Halal food in tourism: exploring the factors that influence halal food selection among travelers

Halal industry has been commercialized by the Malaysian government for many years, and Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) is part of the Malaysian government initiatives to facilitate the growth of Halal industry whereby it has been successfully stimulating Malaysian halal products in locally and globally. Although there were lots of effort taken by the Malaysian government in commercializing the Halal food and brand, the consciousness of consuming the Halal food is still imprecise especially among the young Muslim consumers. Muslims’ consciousness in seeking for the availability of Halal food while travelling is not in satisfactory phase when there are some of the Muslims were found to avoid religious attributes such as having Halal food when travelling to a destination. Thus, this study aims to investigate the factors influence Halal food selection among Muslim youth while traveling. A total of 384 respondents of Malaysian Muslim youth consumers were participated in this research. The data was analyzed by using IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21 through several analyses such as descriptive analysis, frequency analysis and Pearson correlation analysis. Results of this study indicated that religious beliefs, health reasons, and Halal logo and certificate affect Halal food selection among Muslim youth. This study provide several implication for the Muslim consumers to be conscious of the Halal logo and certificate presence before making selection in buying food products

Exploring the factors influence halal food selection among Muslim youth while travelling

Halal industry has been commercialized by the Malaysian government for many years. Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) is part of the Malaysian government initiatives to facilitate the growth of Halal industry and it has been successfully stimulating Malaysian halal products in locally and globally (Aiedah, 2015). Although there were lots of efforts taken by the Malaysian government in commercializing the Halal food and brand, the consciousness of consuming the Halal food is still imprecise, especially among the young Muslim consumers. Thus, this study aims to investigate the factors influence Halal food selection among Muslim youth while traveling. A total of 384 respondents of Muslim youth consumers were participated in this research. The data was analyzed by using IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21 through several analyses such as descriptive analysis, frequency analysis, reliability analysis and multiple regression analysis. Results of this study indicated that religious beliefs, health reasons, and Halal logo and certificate affect Halal food selection among Muslim youth

Chetty: the unforgotten

Melaka is one of the historical cities which is famous with its culture and heritage values. Unfortunately, Chetty’s community is closely to be left out and forgotten despite of any tourism commercialization by the Melaka State Government. Therefore, in order to make this Chetty’s community to be acknowledged by the local people and tourists around the world, the concept of Augmented Reality is vital to be introduced in order to curb the distinction of this community. This initiative is produced in live brochure form to promote the culture and custom of the Chetty’s community in Melaka which resulted from an improper medium of marketing and promotion. Furthermore, this live brochure comprises of all the information related to the Chetty’s community such as navigation, attractions, activities, customs and lifestyle that present the Chetty’s features which located in Kampung Gajah Berang. Nevertheless, this initiative can lift up their image as one of the unique minority ethnics in Melaka World Heritage Site. The live brochure will also benefit the Chetty’s community in tourism activities specifically in preserving the priceless values of that community based on their history and custom which could be protected. Consequently, it will become one of the attractive tourism destinations in Melaka World Heritage Site with exclusive design of the brochure and able to captivate the tourists’ attention

Chemistry, pharmacology and therapeutic potential of swertiamarin – a promising natural lead for new drug discovery and development

Swertiamarin, a seco-iridoid glycoside, is mainly found in Enicostemma littorale Blume (E. littorale) and exhibits therapeutic activities for various diseases. The present study aimed to provide a review of swertiamarin in terms of its phytochemistry, physicochemical properties, biosynthesis, pharmacology and therapeutic potential. Relevant literature was collected from several scientific databases, including PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Google Scholar, between 1990 and the present. This review included the distribution of swertiamarin in medicinal plants and its isolation, characterization, physicochemical properties and possible biosynthetic pathways. A comprehensive summary of the pharmacological activities, therapeutic potential and metabolic pathways of swertiamarin was also included after careful screening and tabulation. Based on the reported evidence, swertiamarin meets all five of Lipinski’s rules for drug-like properties. Thereafter, the physicochemical properties of swertiamarin were detailed and analyzed. A simple and rapid method for isolating swertiamarin from E. littorale has been described. The present review proposed that swertiamarin may be biosynthesized by the mevalonate or nonmevalonate pathways, followed by the seco-iridoid pathway. It has also been found that swertiamarin is a potent compound with diverse pharmacological activities, including hepatoprotective, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiarthritis, antidiabetic, antioxidant, neuroprotective and gastroprotective activities. The anticancer activity of swertiamarin against different cancer cell lines has been recently reported. The underlying mechanisms of all these pharmacological effects are diverse and seem to involve the regulation of different molecular targets, including growth factors, inflammatory cytokines, protein kinases, apoptosis-related proteins, receptors and enzymes. Swertiamarin also modulates the activity of several transcription factors, and their signaling pathways in various pathological conditions are also discussed. Moreover, we have highlighted the toxicity profile, pharmacokinetics and possible structural modifications of swertiamarin. The pharmacological activities and therapeutic potential of swertiamarin have been extensively investigated. However, more advanced studies are required including clinical trials and studies on the bioavailability, permeability and administration of safe doses to offer swertiamarin as a novel candidate for future drug development