Antibacterial activity of five selected fruit’s peels in Kuala Pilah / Nik Nurul Aini Che Isa

A research was carried out on five selected fruit’s peels namely watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), honey dew (Cucumis melo l.), dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus), papaya (Carica papaya) and banana (Musa acuminata) that were obtained from agro market Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan by determining the antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Salmonella species. Three methods were used in order to analyse the antibacterial activity from these plants extract which were disc diffusion, minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and time kill study. Based on disc diffusion results, the highest and smallest inhibition zone recorded were 16±0.10 mm and 6±0.00 mm respectively. Two fruit’s peels extract for each bacteria that obtained the highest inhibition zone were chosen in order to proceed with MIC which were papaya and watermelon extracts for the test against Escherichia coli while papaya and banana extracts for the test against Salmonella. For MIC, the least concentration of extract that showed less turbidity was at 25 mg/mL of papaya extract against Salmonella. As for time kill study, the papaya extract actively killed the bacteria at 8 hours. The results obtained provide the evidence that the five selected fruit’s peels especially papaya can be exploited more on its antibacterial potential as a source of antibacterial drug to be used in medicinal field in future

Systematic significance of leaf epidermal characterictics in Shorea Roxb. (Dipterocarpaceae) in Malaysia

The taxonomic problems in Shorea mostly involve identification and classification. The investigation presented in this study aims to prove that leaf epidermal characteristics have taxonomic value in Shorea. Epidermal peels were prepared using Jeffrey’s solution. The underside of the leaf surface was scraped with a razor blade to remove lose cells and soaked for several days in Jeffrey’s solution or bleaching agent Vortex. The cleared leaf was washed, stained with Safranin, dehydrated, mounted, photographed and observed as described. For observation under scanning electron microscope, 3 to 5 mm2 leaf sections were washed in water, dehydrated through an alcohol series, were then placed between two glass slides, undergone critical point drying process, coated with gold palladium and were examined in a 2.7Å field emission of Cambridge Instruments Stereoscan 360 scanning electron microscope. Results have shown that the epidermis of the leaf surface under LM is useful for distinguishing S. isoptera, and S. maxwelliana, from the others and also between these two species themselves, so that it could be a diagnostic character. The study of the epidermal surfaces revealed a number of important micromorphological characters, and these characters exhibit interesting interspecific variations that are of significance for species identification and authentification. The presence of crustose wax with an abundance of flakes on the leaf surface may be characteristic of S. parviflora. The epidermal sculpturing has considerable diagnostic value, and may characterize some species and could serve as a criterion of distinguishing S. bracteolata. Results have shown that leaf epidermal features could be useful for authentification and identification purposes especially at species level, thus this study have shown taxonomic value of leaf epidermal characteristics in Shorea

Leaf anatomy and micromorphology of selected plant species in coastal area of Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia

Plant anatomy can play vital role in plant taxonomy for successfully resolve taxonomic problems among different plant species. The anatomical studies of plant species living in coastal area of Kuantan, Pahang are scarce. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify the common, variation and diagnostic characteristics of leaf anatomy and micromorphology of selected plant species collected from Balok and Sepat beach area which can give additional information for identification of species. Four species studied namely Ipomoea pes-caprae (L.) R. Br., Calophyllum inophyllum L., Hibiscus tiliaceus L. and Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) Vahl. Methods used were sectioning using sliding microtome, epidermal peeling and leaf micromorphology method using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The findings from this study showed that only three characteristics are similar among them which include the presence of collenchyma, sclerenchyma and mucilage cells or canals in either petiole or midrib of the leaves. Meanwhile, there are eight differences were observed which are types of stomata and trichomes, pattern of anticlinal wall and vascular bundles, type of epicuticular wax structures, cuticle ornamentations, size of epidermal cells and the presence of cell inclusions. The diagnostic characteristics identified in this study are closed-system of vascular bundle, presence of multicellular capitate glandular, 2-4 armed trichomes and 5-8 armed stellate trichomes and also flakes type of wax layers that can only be found in H. tiliaceus while 1:1 ratio size of epidermal cells can only be found in I. pes-caprae. The study reveals that leaf anatomy and micromorphology characteristics could be beneficial as an additional data for identification of species along the coastal area of Kuantan, Pahang

The relationship between training and development and organizational peformances at Majlis Daerah Jerantut / Nurul Aini Che Cob and Nor Amirah Juhari

The purpose of this study is to find out the factor of training and development that gives impact on organizational performance in Majlis Daerah Jerantut. There are two objective for this research first is to investigate the relationship between training and development and organizational performances. Second objective is measure the level of Training and Development, a) training design, b) on the job training, and c) delivery style and Organizational Performances. The hypothesis are developed from this research first, there is a relationship between training design and organizational performances. Second there is a relationship between on the job training and organizational performances, next here is a relationship between delivery style and organizational performances. Lastly, there is a relationship between training and development and organizational performances. The target of population was the employees of Majlis Daerah Jerantut. The respondent taking was only 50 workers of Majlis Daerah Jerantut which is only the upper management or inside worker. Therefore, the sample for our study is only 48 workers of Majlis Daerah Jerantut. Reliability analysis was used to measure the consistency of variable. Correlation analysis is used to identify the relationship between the variables and descriptive analysis is used to measure the level of independent variable and dependent variable. The finding show that, there are moderate and strong relationship between training and development (training design, on the job training, delivery style). The others finding show that, the level of training and development (training design, on the job training, delivery style) and organizational performance was high. This clearly indicated that Majlis Daerah Jerantut have high level of training and development and organizational performance. From the research that has been done, there are several recommendations for the Managers and Organization first, biasness should be minimized while selecting the candidates for training. Second, employees should be clearly communicated about the potential benefits of training programs and lastly, Choose the right trainer

Morfologi trikom pada petal dan sepal spesies terpilih Acanthaceae di Semenanjung Malaysia

Acanthaceae merupakan famili tumbuhan angiosperma di bawah order Lamiales yang terdiri daripada sekurang-kurangnya 4000 spesies sama ada spesies tropika atau subtropika. Spesies daripada famili ini ditemui di pelbagai habitat dan mempunyai pelbagai morfologi serta corak taburan geografi. Walau bagaimanapun, maklumat mengenai ciri anatomi bagi Acanthaceae masih dangkal sehingga ke hari ini. Objektif kajian ini ialah untuk mengenal pasti jenis trikom yang hadir pada permukaan epidermis adaksial dan abaksial sepal dan juga petal bunga bagi beberapa spesies terpilih daripada Acanthaceae di Semenanjung Malaysia. Kajian ini melibatkan pengumpulan sampel di lapangan, penyediaan spesimen baucer, teknik kajian epidermis petal, cerapan di bawah mikroskop cahaya dan juga cerapan di bawah mikroskop imbasan elektron. Tiga puluh jenis trikom dicerap dalam kajian ini dan daripada jumlah tersebut, 23 jenis trikom dicerap hadir pada permukaan epidermis petal manakala 17 jenis trikom dicerap hadir pada permukaan epidermis sepal. Jenis trikom yang direkodkan ialah trikom ringkas unisel dan ringkas multisel, trikom kelenjar kapitat dan kelenjar peltat serta juga trikom berlengan. Keputusan kajian ini menunjukkan kehadiran dan jenis trikom pada permukaan sepal dan petal mempunyai nilai taksonomi yang berguna untuk tujuan pembezaan dan pengecaman spesies. Maklumat ciri morfologi trikom yang diperoleh daripada kajian ini merupakan maklumat baharu ciri anatomi bunga bagi Acanthaceae

Figs (Ficus Carica L.): cultivation method and production based in Malaysia

Ficus (Moraceae) is a tree or shrub natively originated from East Asia countries such as Middle East and Turkey. However, determination of the most suitable cultivation method in Malaysia has becoming one of the major concerns in figs industry. This is because figs can be easily found in cold and temperate regions compared to the equator regions. Therefore, this paper will discuss on the method of figs cultivation and its production based on the market demands in Malaysia. Simple propagation methods such as cutting, and layering are the most recommended method used for cultivating the fig trees. As for the production, figs are mainly processed as food such as jam, tea, dipping sauce, spaghetti sauce and dried processed food or available fresh. It is also used in traditional medicine as it is claimed to be good remedies in treating severe health problem such reducing blood sugar level and gastrointestinal problem

Leaf anatomical characteristics of Avicennia L. and some selected taxa in Acanthaceae

The proposed placement of Avicennia L. into Acanthaceae had been made based only on molecular data. The main objective of this study is to investigate whether anatomical leaf characteristics of the Avicennia species support this placement. This study also aims to determine the leaf anatomical characteristics and their taxonomic value for some selected taxa ofAcanthaceae. Seven species were studied, namely A. alba Blume, A. officinalis L., A. lanata Ridley, Justicia gendarussa Burm. f., J. betonica L., Strobilanthes crispa Blume and Asystasia gangetica subsp. micrantha (L.) T. Anderson. Methods used were sectioning using sliding microtome, leaf clearing, epidermal peels, and observation under a light microscope. Findings have shown great differences between Avicenniaspecies andother studied taxa. There are eleven outstanding leaf anatomical variations which may be used to distinguish all Avicennia species from the others, such as the presence and absence of brachysclereids, hypodermal layers, cystoliths and the presence of denture on the abaxial side of leaf margin, type of trichomes and stomata, areolar venation, marginal outline, shape of vascular bundles in the midrib, and the pattern of anticlinal walls on the adaxial and abaxial epidermis cells. The presence of mucilaginous idioblasts cells is common in all species studied. This study has shown that the genus Avicennia does not share similar leaf anatomical characteristics with the other taxa in Acanthaceae. As a conclusion, the placement of the genus Avicennia into the Acanthaceae has not been supported by leaf anatomical characteristics; therefore, it is suggested that this placement be revised

Effects of different chicken manure rates of on early growth of fig (Ficus Carica)

Fertilizing by using chicken manure as an organic amendment is a complementary to improve chemical fertilizer efficiency. This study was conducted in Glasshouse & Nursery Complex of IIUM with the objectives of evaluating different rates of chicken manure application on soil properties, leaf nutrients and the growth response of fig trees for early growth effects. The soils were amended with 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 50% of chicken manure on three months old saplings of cultivar BTM6 in five replications were used to observe the effects. The experiment was observed for three months. The nutrient content in T1 and treated soil showed a significant difference at p < 0.05. The T5 had the highest content of nutrients compared to other treatments. However, the leaf nutrient contents did not show any significant difference among all treatments. Survivability of the trees were 100% with T2 showed a superlative growth response with the high number of branches, leaves and fruit

Taxonomic importance of anticlinal walls and stomata patterning in some Melastoma l. Species from Fraser Hill

The epidermal characteristics of five selected Melastoma L. species in Fraser Hill, Pahang that belongs to Melastomataceae family had been investigated. These five species namely M. muticum Ridl., M. decemfidum Roxb., M. perakense Ridl., M. sanguineum x malabathricum and M. malabathricum var. normale. The objective of this study is to determine whether epidermal characteristics in Melastoma could be taxonomic value in systematic and diagnostic investigations. Methods of the investigation involved epidermal peel and scanning electron microscopy. Results obtained revealed that the presence of hypostomatic stomata and guard cells pairs were elliptic in shaped for all species studied. Apart, the pattern of anticlinal walls on adaxial and abaxial surfaces was straight to wavy for all species studied except for wavy to sinuous anticlinal walls on abaxial surface of M. sanguineum x malabathricum. Furthermore, two types of stomata were observed among species studied such as anomocytic and diacytic stomata. Results showed that diacytic type was only present in M. sanguineum x malabathricum therefore could be a criterion to diagnose the species. Lastly, this present study was also reported on the presence of two types of guard cell pairs such as raised or slightly raised and sunken guard cell pairs. In conclusion, the present study revealed that the anticlinal walls and stomata patterning possess as taxonomic importance in identification and classification of Melastoma either at genus or species level

Leaf anatomy and micromorphology of Rhinacanthus nasutus (L.) Kurz (Acanthaceae) from Peninsular Malaysia

Acanthaceae family has been used traditionally for medicinal purposes especially amongst the native communities in Peninsular Malaysia. It is also known as one of the potential plant families that can be used to cure diseases. Nowadays, many taxonomists have difficulties during the identification of the Acanthaceae species due to its morphological similarities and also when there is an incomplete part of plants obtained from the field sampling. But until now, there is no comprehensive study that has been documented especially on the Acanthaceae family, specifically for R. nasutus. To avoid incorrect species identification, a systematic study that involved the leaf anatomy and micromorphology parts are being used for the identification and classification of plants in the Acanthaceae. Therefore, the main objective of this present study is to identify the leaf anatomical and micromorphological characteristics that can be used in plant identification and also for supportive data in plant classification. The leaf anatomical and micromorphological studies that are conducted on R. nasutus involve several procedures such as cross-section using a sliding microtome, and observation under a light microscope and scanning electron microscope. The anatomical and micromorphological characteristics observed include patterns of petiole and midrib vascular bundles, presence of cystolith cells in lamina, midrib and petiole, type of stomata (amphistomatic) and the presence of trichomes. In conclusion, results showed that anatomical and micromorphological characteristics have taxonomic significance that can be used in the identification and classification especially at the species level