Development of bambangan (Mangifera pajang) carbonated drink

Mangifera pajang Kostermans or bambangan is a popular fruit among Sabahan due to its health and economic values. However, the fruit is not fully commercialized since it is usually been used as traditional cuisine by local people. Thus, development of bambangan fruit into carbonated drink was conducted to produce new product concept. The objectives of this study were to conceptualize, formulate, evaluate consumer acceptance, and determine physicochemical properties and nutritional composition of the accepted product. Method used in conceptualising the product was based on questionnaire. The consumer acceptance was evaluated based on descriptive and affective tests with four product formulations tested. The physicochemical properties on carbon dioxide volume, colour, pH, total acidity, total soluble solid (TSS) and viscosity were highlighted, meanwhile nutritional composition on fat, protein, carbohydrates and energy content were determined. About 77% respondents gave positive feedback, and 69% respondents decided this product is within their budget. The formulation of 5% bambangan pulp, 70% water, 25% sugar and 0.2% citric acid was highly accepted in descriptive and affective tests with 4.4 and 6.39 mean scores, respectively. The physicochemical properties and nutritional composition of the acceptance product were in optimum value except for colour, total acidity and TSS. Overall, this study showed that the product has high potential to be commercialized as new product concept, and heritage of indigenous people can be preserved when this fruit is known regionally

Comparative study on the performance of Au/F-TiO2 photocatalyst synthesized from Zamzam water and distilled water under blue light irradiation

Recurring problems of titanium dioxide (TiO2) for needing UV light to be activated and high electron-hole recombination rate limit the application of TiO2 as a prolific photocatalyst. By modifying the morphology and introducing electron trapping species into TiO2, the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 could be improved. Solvents of two different kinds; distilled water and Zamzam water were used in peroxotitanic acid synthesis of TiO2 and the photocatalyst was utilized to degrade Reactive Blue 19 (RB19) dye under blue light irradiation (475 nm) to assess the visible light activity of synthesized TiO2. Fluorine was incorporated to control the morphology while gold nanoparticles (GNP) stabilized by arabic gum were deposited to trap electrons. The morphology of F-TiO2 which appeared to be in ovoid shape was confirmed by Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and crystallite size estimated from X-ray Diffraction (XRD) data revealed that F-TiO2 modified using HF was smaller in size and exhibited single anatase phase. The band gap of Au-TiO2 synthesized by distilled and Zamzam water was 2.78 eV and 2.89 eV respectively; shifted from 3.08 eV in blank TiO2. Peroxo Au/F-TiO2 synthesized with the incorporation of arabic gum as GNP stabilizer and HF as fluorine modifier degraded up to 49.23% of RB19 within two hours of reaction. The addition of fluorine and gold demonstrated high ability to enhance visible light activity of TiO2 with distilled water used as solvent displayed higher photocatalytic performance compared to Zamzam water

Antiproliferative activity of five garcinia species collected in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo against estrogen receptor-human breast carcinoma (MCF-7) cell line

Garcinia species are well-known for their unique properties of having natural secondary metabolite compounds called xanthone as well as their ethnomedicinal values such as antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. The study was conducted to investigate the antiproliferative activity of peel, flesh and seed extracts of G. dulcis, G. parvifolia, G. nitida, G. mangostana var. mangosta and G. cambogia collected from Malaysian Borneo (Sabah) against estrogen receptor-positive human breast carcinoma (MCF-7) cells. The antiproliferative activity was assessed using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The results showed that G. dulcis seed induced strongest antiproliferative activity against MCF-7 cancer cell line with the IC50 value of 2.5±0.0 μg/ml, followed by G. dulcis flesh, G. mangostana var. mangostana peel and G. dulcis peel with IC50 values of 9.33 ± 3.21, 11.17 ± 1.04 and 17.67 ± 2.08 μg/ml, respectively. Meanwhile, the IC50 value for G. cambogia peel was 56.67 ± 10.5 μg/ml. No IC50 value was detected in all parts of G. parvifolia and G. nitida at concentration tested (<100 μg/ml). Overall, this study clearly showed that the whole fruit of G. dulcis displayed potent cytotoxic effect by inducing antiproliferative activity at low concentration. Further studies are needed in the future to develop this fruit as pharmaceutical and nutraceutical product for the treatment and prevention against cancer

Microflora of Ciku (Achras sapota L.) of Variety Jantung

The overall microbial count of ciku is law and predominantly )'east. which peaks at day three after haverst. Washing reduced the microbial counts of the fruits, retarding the yeast population by 89% and bacteria by 75 %. During injury, the dominant flora is bacteria which is replaced later by fungi as the storage time progeressed. Normal microbial flora of aim consists of bacteria, yeasl and moulds. Spoilage during cold storage is associated with new strains of,yeast and moulds. Proper sanitation and post harvest handling treatments are important in controlling fruit losses associated with microorganisms

Development of PAN (personal area network) for Mobile Robot Using Bluetooth Transceiver

In recent years, wireless applications using radio frequency (RF) have been rapidly evolving in personal computing and communications devices. Bluetooth technology was created to replace the cables used on mobile devices. Bluetooth is an open specification and encompasses a simple low-cost, low power solution for integration into devices. This research work aim was to provide a PAN (personal area network) for computer based mobile robot that supports real-time control of four mobile robots from a host mobile robot. With ad hoc topology, mobile robots may request and establish a connection when it is within the range or terminated the connection when it leaves the area. A system that contains both hardware and software is designed to enable the robots to participate in multi-agent robotics system (MARS). Computer based mobile robot provide operating system that enabled development of wireless connection via IP address

Structural properties of graphene oxide coatings from different sheets sizes

The structural properties of different sizes of graphene oxide (GO) sheets were observed. It is worth to mention that smaller size GO sheets (ultrasonicated 10h) exhibits higher absorption intensity, and the absorption peak was shifted towards lower wavelength (~223 nm) due to the fragmentation of the GO sheets. It has caused an extension of a π-conjugated system, thereby enhance the absorption intensity and energy. After electrophoretic deposition (EPD), the coatings exhibit a reduction in the oxygen content with oxygen-related band (ORB) values of the larger GO sheets is higher than that of small size GO sheets. The surface morphology of both the coatings are homogenous and the layers adhered well to the underlying copper. However, larger GO sheets exhibit rougher and coarser morphology than that of small size GO sheets. It is reflected in the thickness measurement where the large size GO sheets exhibit thicker film (3.16 ± 0.01 µm) while small size GO sheets possess thinner film (1.95 ± 0.02 µm)

Corrosion Protection Coatings from Size-Specified Graphene Oxide

Corrosion performance of graphene oxide (GO) coatings from different sheets sizes in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution was investigated. The GO dispersion was subjected to 5 and 10 hours of ultrasonication before electrophoretically deposited (EPD) onto the copper substrate. It was found that the EPD-GO coating from smaller sheets (10h ultrasonication) possess hydrophobic, thinner film and smooth surfaces. It is suggested that the corrosion performance of the coating from smaller GO sheets is improved due to the surface texture and compactness of the coating as compared to the larger GO sheets

Detection and quantification of probiotic bacteria using optimized DNA extraction, traditional and real-time PCR methods in complex microbial communities

The aim of this study is to optimize molecular detection and quantification methods of probiotic bacteria in complex microbial communities that have long been difficult for traditional culture-based methods. Traditional and real-time PCR were optimized to detect and quantify Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. in complex microbial community. Fish and shrimp sauce were used as a model for complex microbial community. Directly form samples, 4 DNA extraction methods, primers specificity, PCR, and real-time PCR procedures were optimized, tested in comparison with samples, enriched bacteria and related standard bacterial strains, E. coli, Bacteroides, Enterococcus and Salmonella. Results showed that extracted genomic DNA using Wizard&#174; Genomic DNA Purification Kit showed the highest yield, quality and performance. Moreover, the specificity of the primer set specific for Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. was checked and found highly specific. The sensitivity of real-time PCR was higher than the conventional PCR and its quantifying potential is very precise for the detection and quantification of Lactobacillus spp. but not Bifidobacterium spp. which was absent in the tested samples. In conclusion, PCR and real-time PCR assays could be used very efficiently in quantifying and detecting Lactobacillus spp. that are present in very PCR-suppressive and complex microbial environment