Artemisia annua L., a medicinal herb, produces secondary metabolites with antimicrobial property. In Malaysia due to the tropical hot climate, A. annua could not be planted for production of artemisinin, the main bioactive compound. In this study, the leaves of three in vitro A. annua L. clones were, extracted and two bioactive compounds, artemisinin and a precursor, were isolated by thin layer chromatography. These compounds were found to be effective in inhibiting the growth of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria but not Candida albicans. Their antimicrobial activity was similar to that of antibactericidal antibiotic streptomycin. They were found to inhibit the growth of the tested microbes at the minimum inhibition concentration of 0.09 mg/mL, and toxicity test using brine shrimp showed that even the low concentration of 0.09 mg/mL was very lethal towards the brine shrimps with 100% mortality rate. This study hence indicated that in vitro cultured plantlets of A. annua can be used as the alternative method for production of artemisinin and its precursor with antimicrobial activities.
Corbicula fluminea serves as traditional food to the local people in Kelantan, Malaysia. Concerns regarding river contamination, smoking method, and associated adverse effects on public health had been increasing. Hence, this study aims to measure the level of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn) and assess human health risk in C. fluminea consumption at Kelantan. Heavy-metal analysis was done using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry, while human health risk was assessed using provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI), target hazard quotient (THQ), and hazard index (HI). The estimated weekly intake (EWI) for all metals was found within PTWI, while THQ for Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn was 0.12, 0.06, 0.04, 0.41, and 0.03, respectively. The HI was calculated at 0.61 which is less than 1, considered as the safe consumption level. Therefore, C. fluminea consumption in this study was found safe from the health risk of noncarcinogenic effect over a lifetime.
“Etak” or Corbicula fluminea, is a freshwater mollusc species regularly consumed as a popular snack among the Kelantanese in Malaysia. The “etak” is usually heated with traditional smoking process which is considered as half cooked and the smoked C. fluminea is commonly known as “etak salai”. This study focuses on the potential of Leucas zeylanica leaves extract to eliminate the bacteria content in “etak salai”. Extraction of bacterial genomic DNA was performed and confirmed the existence of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in “etak salai”. Antibacterial properties of L. zeylanica leaves extract was identified using disc diffusion assay and the result obtained exhibit that 70 μg/μL of L. zeylanica extract was the optimum concentration to give the effect of 11 mm inhibition zone for E. coli and 15 mm inhibition zone for S. aureus. This finding proof that L. zeylanica leaves could be the ingredients in the paste for “etak salai” preparation.
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