In vitro fibroblasts viability and migration stimulation of Acalypha indica: an insight on wound healing activity

Background The current study investigates the antioxidant activity of Acalypha indica aerial parts and root ethanolic extracts and explore whether these extracts will stimulate fibroblasts viability and ability to migrate. Results Aerial parts extract exhibited higher DPPH scavenging activity compared to root extract with IC50 of 62 µg/mL and 206 µg/mL, respectively. Both aerial parts and root extracts showed low cytotoxicity towards fibroblasts with 753 µg/mL LD50 for aerial parts and undetected LD50 for root extract. Additionally, aerial parts extract significantly induces fibroblasts proliferation up to 134%. Wound closure investigation showed a significant closure percentage for aerial parts compared to untreated control with 75% at 1 µg/mL and high closure percentage with 70% at 0.1 µg/mL for root extract compared to only 59% closure percentage for untreated control after 48 h of the study.Conclusions This study provided evidence for A. indica to have great wound healing potential. The finding builds the scientific background in future to utilise the high antioxidant activity of A. indica and its ability to stimulate fibroblasts migration and proliferation for further applications

Comparison and characterization of different types of durian husk as activated carbon

In this study, characterization of activated carbon (AC) produced from durian husk by chemical activation technique using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as activating agent. Three types of durian husk used were Durian D-2 (DD-2), Durian Kampung (DK) and Duriang Kacing Baju (DKB). All of these durians husk are then carbonized and activated. The particle size of AC is sieved between 300 - 600 mm. The AC is then characterised according to proximate analysis and chemical properties. The proximate analysis is including moisture content, ash content, volatile matter and fixed carbon. The elemental analysis is also done. Commercial adsorbent silica gel was compared with carbon produced by using iodine titration. All types of durian husk shows difference values in physical analysis and almost same characteristics in chemical analysis

Antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, and nutrient composition of Chayote shoot (Sechium edule, Jacq. Swartz) from Kundasang, Sabah

The chayote (Sechium edule) plant is believed to have significant nutritional importance due to its medicinal functions. It has been widely cultivated in Kundasang, Sabah for vegetable consumption. This study was carried out to determine the health benefits of this vegetable, especially the upper 3-foot of the shoot portion, in terms of antioxidant activity, total phenolic content and nutrient composition. It was divided equally into three parts, each a foot long and classified as: upper tier, middle tier and lower tier and amongst them, which tier gives rise to the best health benefits or will the traditional consumption of the whole 3-foot shoot be better for overall health well-being. DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate) and Folin Ciocalteu test were used to determine antioxidant activity and Total Phenolic Content (TPC), respectively. The results showed that the upper tier of shoot parts had the highest value for antioxidant activity, with the lowest of IC50 value (245.12 ± 9.24 μg/ml). The lower part of the plant also shows the highest value for TPC with a value of 355.66 ± 5.84 mg/g GAE. Minerals, Ca, Mg, P, Mo, Fe and Al were the highest value in the middle tier portion. The proximate analyses showed that the upper tier of the shoot has the highest fat, crude protein, and carbohydrate contents. Crude ash has the highest value in the middle tier part. On the other hand, the moisture content and the crude fiber were high at the lower tier of the shoot portion. The upper tier of the shoot is recommended to be consumed for health benefits because it is high in antioxidant activity and proximate content and also rich in minerals. However, the traditional practice is to consume the whole 3-foot long of this vegetable is very welcom

Guidelines for designing green products considering customers’ cultural preferences

The increasing customer awareness of environmental sustainability during the last decade has had an influence on many manufacturers to produce green products. However, issues arise regarding the actual preferences of customers for green products, which often differ depending on cultural influences. Cultural values can affect the decisions of designers to determine detailed design specifications that relate to customer preferences. Currently, few guidelines consider cultural values as an aspect of green product design. Thus, the aim of this study is to develop a guideline that incorporates the influence of cultural values on green product design. Malaysia was selected as the location of this study. The sources of data to establish a guideline were obtained from customer perspectives on green products. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to identify cultural influences and preferences on green product characteristics as the input strategies for the proposed guideline. Professional designers from different profiles were asked to identify the applicability of the guideline. Based on the results, the designers agreed that the influence of cultural values is an important aspect that should be considered in the development of green products. The implication of the guideline is discussed in this paper to accelerate decisions of designers in developing green products. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Green honey of Banggi Island: A preliminary anti-diabetic study on zebrafish model

Zebrafish is a developing vertebrate model with several advantages, including its small size, and high experimental efficiency. Malaysia exhibit one of the highest diabetes rates in the Western Pacific and incurring an annual cost of 600 million US dollars. The objective of the study is to determine the antidiabetic properties of green honey (GH) using a zebrafish model. Adult zebrafish, aged 3–4 months, were subjected to overfeeding and treated with streptozotocin (STZ) through intraperitoneal injection (IP) on days 7 and 9. The study assessed the oral sucrose tolerance test (OSTT) and the anti-diabetic effects of green honey. The evaluation was conducted at three time points: 30, 60, and 120 min after treatment and sucrose administration. The study utilised a model with a sample size of 5. The study was performed in six groups. These groups are (1) Normal control (non-diabetic, no intervention), (2) Normal control + GH (non-diabetic, supplemented with GH 3 μl), (3) DM control (diabetic, no intervention), (4) DM Gp1 (diabetic, 3 μL GH), (5) DM Gp2 (diabetic, 6 μ L GH), (6) DM Acarbose (diabetic, treated with acarbose). Fasting blood glucose levels for non-diabetic (non-DM) and diabetic (DM) groups were evaluated before and after the 10 days of diabetic induction. DM groups (excess of food and two injections of STZ) have caused a significant increment in the fasting blood glucose to 11.55 mmol/l (p < 0.0001). Both GH treatments effectively decreased postprandial blood glucose levels and the area under the curve in the oral glucose tolerance test (OSTT). Based on these results, it is concluded that green honey could play a role in hyperglycemia management and show potential as a natural alternative to conventional diabetes therapy. The underlying mechanisms need to be clarified, and their potential use in human diabetes therapy needs to be investigated

Assessment of pond water quality in Lubok Bongor, Kelantan area

Recently, the water quality is deteriorating day by day due to anthropogenic input of dissolved nutrient and organic matter and industrial effluent which is built up on its bank. So it is of vital importance to monitor and simulate the water quality parameters to ascertain whether the water is still suitable Tor various uses. Therefore in this paper, determination of the BOD and COD in the pond water samples in Lubok Bongor, Kelantan area. The BOD and COD were identified based on dissolved oxygen (DO). The results showed the value of BOD in the range of 2.58 ± 1.17 mg/L which indicated moderately clean and the demand for oxygen by the bacteria is lower. The observed value of COD was 94 .2 ± 2.44 mg/L which showed tbe presence of high concentration of chemical present in pond water. Therefore, based on the results, it can be concluded that the pond water at Lubok Bongor are still safely to use for plants

Macronutrient concentration in stem, leaf and petiole of wild grown water spinach (ipomea aquatic forsk.) and its relationship with pond water

Water spinach (Ipomoea aquatic Forsk.) is a food for human beings and animals. It is rich in minerals, protein, dietary fibre, with high moisture content. The work was undertaken to determine contents of K, Ca, Mg, Na & P in the stems, leaves and petioles of water spinach. Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and Inductive Couple Plasma (ICP) were used to determine concentration of nutrients, where one way ANOVA was applied to analyse if there is any significant differences in the macronutrient contents amongst the leaves, petioles and stems of the water spinach. If any of the results showed significant differences, Turkey post-hoc HSD test (p<0.05%) was adopted to separate the means. In addition, Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient Test was conducted between the plant macronutrients samples (leaves + stem + petioles combined) and water macronutrients data run to determine their relationships. In addition, purpose of this study is to highlight to the public which parts of the plant should be consumed and also to indicate the relationship of Water Spinach with its growing medium. The K concentration was higher than the other elements and maximum concentration was in petioles (432+27.45 mg∙L-1) and stems (424.60+14.19 mgL-1). The element with the least concentration was Na (3.10+0.40 mgL-1), in the petiole. There was no difference in Mg content in leaves, petioles and stems (avg. 28.55+1.61 mgL- 1). High amounts of Ca (150+0.10 mgL-1) and low amounts of P (41.11+0.01 mgL-1) were in pond water. A positive correlation of each nutrient occurred between water spinach and pond water

A bibliometric analysis of the global trend of using alginate, gelatine, and hydroxyapatite for bone tissue regeneration applications

Collecting information from previous investigations and expressing it in a scientometrics study can be a priceless guide to getting a complete overview of a specific research area. The aim of this study is to explore the interrelated connection between alginate, gelatine, and hydroxyapatite within the scope of bone tissue and scaffold. A review of traditional literature with data mining procedures using bibliometric analyses was considered to identify the evolution of the selected re�search area between 2009 and 2019. Bibliometric methods and knowledge visualization technologies were implemented to investigate diverse publications based on the following indicators: year of publication, document type, language, country, institution, author, journal, keyword, and number of citations. An analysis using a bibliometric study found that 7446 papers were located with the keywords “bone tissue” and “scaffold”, and 1767 (alginate), 185 (gelatine), 5658 (hydroxyapatite) papers with those specific sub keywords. The number of publications that relate to “tissue engineer�ing” and bone more than doubled between 2009 (1352) and 2019 (2839). China, the United States and India are the most productive countries, while Sichuan University and the Chinese Academy of Science from China are the most important institutions related to bone tissue scaffold. Materials Science and Engineering C is the most productive journal, followed by the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A. This paper is a starting point, providing the first bibliometric analysis study of bone tissue and scaffold considering alginate, gelatine and hydroxyapatite. A bibliometric analysis would greatly assist in giving a scientific insight to support desired future research work, not only associated with bone tissue engineering applications. It is expected that the analysis of alginate, gelatine and hydroxyapatite in terms of 3D bioprinting, clinical outcomes, scaffold architecture, and the regenerative medicine approach will enhance the research into bone tissue engineering in the near future. Continued studies into these research fields are highly recommended

Changes in microstructures of rambutan seed and the quality of its fat during drying

The application of pre-treatment on oilseeds prior to extraction process may exert undesirable impact towards the quality of oils as well as microstructures of seed. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the efects of three drying methods on the microstructures of rambutan seeds and its efects on physicochemical properties of rambutan seed fat (RSF). The fats that being pre-treated with three diferent drying methods showed shrinkage or alteration of porous structure in terms of size, shape, and diameter. The diferences between the RSF pre-treated with oven-, freeze-, and cabinet drying RSF were in fatty acids (oleic and arachidic acids), and free fatty acid (1.56–1.80 mg KOH/g fat). From the results obtained, the useful information regarding to the efects of pre-treatment on RSF, which is a potent ingredient to be used as a cocoa butter substitute in the formulation of chocolate in the confectionery industries. Moreover, the outcomes of this work able to provide information for better grasp about the correlation of drying methods and quality of RSFs, as well as its applications in other food industries

Phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility of Escherichia coli from raw meats, ready-to-eat meats, and their related samples in one health context

Meat is an important food source that can provide a significant amount of protein for human development. The occurrence of bacteria that are resistant to antimicrobials in meat poses a public health risk. This study evaluated the occurrence and antimicrobial resistance of E. coli (Escherichia coli) isolated from raw meats, ready-to-eat (RTE) meats and their related samples in Ghana. E. coli was isolated using the USA-FDA Bacteriological Analytical Manual and phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed by the disk diffusion method. Of the 200 examined meats and their related samples, 38% were positive for E. coli. Notably, E. coli was highest in raw beef (80%) and lowest in RTE pork (0%). The 45 E. coli isolates were resistant ≥ 50% to amoxicillin, trimethoprim and tetracycline. They were susceptible to azithromycin (87.1%), chloramphenicol (81.3%), imipenem (74.8%), gentamicin (72.0%) and ciprofloxacin (69.5%). A relatively high intermediate resistance of 33.0% was observed for ceftriaxone. E. coli from raw meats, RTE meats, hands of meat sellers and working tools showed some differences and similarities in their phenotypic antimicrobial resistance patterns. Half (51.1%) of the E. coli isolates exhibited multidrug resistance. The E. coli isolates showed twenty-two different resistant patterns, with a multiple antibiotic resistance index of 0.0 to 0.7. The resistant pattern amoxicillin (A, n = 6 isolates) and amoxicillin-trimethoprim (A-TM, n = 6 isolates) were the most common. This study documents that raw meats, RTE meats and their related samples in Ghana are potential sources of antimicrobial-resistant E. coli and pose a risk for the transfer of resistant bacteria to the food chain, environment and humans