Bacterial pathogens in fresh fish sold from the wet market in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

This study aimed to evaluate the microbiological quality of commercial fresh fish. A total of 7 marine fish species (n = 9 per species) were collected and sold from the wet market in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. The prevalence of Pseudomonas spp. (100%) in fish was the highest followed by Aeromonas spp. (58%), Escherichia coli (46.03%), Vibrio spp. (22%), and Salmonella spp. (6.35%). The mean of the total plate counts in gill, gastrointestinal tract, skin and flesh samples were 5.32 ± 0.69 log cfu/g, 4.81 ± 0.81 log cfu/g, 4.23 ± 0.58 log cfu/cm2 and 3.99 ± 0.58 log cfu/g, respectively. Therefore, fresh fish sold in Kora Kinabalu has the potential to be contaminated with pathogenic bacteria. Effective control measures are required to prevent contamination during postharvest fish processing and consumers are advised to avoid eating raw fish to reduce health hazards from bacteri

A cytotoxicity and sub-acute toxicity study on tea leaves cultivated in Sabah

The present work investigated the cytotoxicity capacity of the MDA-MB-231 (human cancer-derived), A549 (human lung cancer-derived), Caov3 (human ovarian cancer-derived), and HeLa (human cervical cancer-derived) cell lines on a wide range of tea leaves; green tea, black tea, tea waste, and compost from Sabah. A group of male and female Sprague Dawley rats was used to screen the sub-acute toxicity of green tea extract in tea leaves from Sabah for 28 d. Results revealed that the ethanol extract of tea leaves had strong cytotoxic activity against all cancer lines. Tea waste showed higher cytotoxicity when extracted using hot water. The ethanol extract of black tea leaves exhibited the highest inhibitory activity against the proliferation of Caov3, whereas the ethanol extract of green tea leaves exhibited a promising cytotoxic activity against MDA-MB-231 and HeLa cell lines. Toxicity studies showed decreased testes weight and increased liver weight in male rats that were administered with 5000 mg/kg of tea extract. This coincided with the significant increase portrayed by enzyme alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in the serum of treated male rats in the 5000 mg/kg dose group. Moreover, there was an increase of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and ALT for the female rats in the 5000 mg/kg dose group. The increased levels of ALT and ALP enzymes, as well as liver weight, signified mechanical trauma in the liver of male and female rats in the 5000 mg/kg dose group

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

Determination of the antioxidant activity and bioactive compounds of mulberry fruit extracts

White mulberry (Morus alba L.) is a berry native to China which fruit is usually eaten fresh or after processed. Its bioactive compounds vary depending on species, cultivation, location and others. In this study, the total flavonoids content, total phenolic content, total anthocyanins content and antioxidant activity of Morus alba L. fruit grown in Tuaran, Sabah were analyzed. Fruit was extracted with 60°C hot water and 80% ethanol, while the total bioactive compounds analysis utilized aluminum chloride, Folin-Ciocalteu and pH differential method in determining the flavonoids, phenolic, and anthocyanins content. Their antioxidant activity was determined using Free Radical Scavenging 2.2-Dyphenyl-1-Pikrilhidrazil (DPPH), Ferric Reduction Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and Radical Cation 2,2'-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) assay. As a result, significantly higher (p < 0.05) content of total flavonoids (104.34 mg QE mg−1), phenolic (1.21 mg GAE mg−1) and anthocyanins (0.74 mg c-3-ge mg−1) were obtained from ethanolic extract than the hot water extract. Also, significantly higher (p < 0.05) antioxidant activity was observed in ethanolic extract for DPPH (0.50 mg mL−1), FRAP (3.74 mm Fe (II) g−1) and ABTS (6.05 mg AEAC g−1). Data showed that ethanol solvent (80%) is a better solvent for Morus alba L. fruit's extraction

Changes in phytate content in whole meal wheat dough and bread fermented with phytase-active yeasts

The degradation of inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6) was evaluated in whole meal wheat dough fermented with baker's yeast without phytase activity, different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (L1.12 or L6.06), or Pichia kudriavzevii with extracellular phytase activity to see if the degradation of IP6 in whole meal dough and the corresponding bread could be increased by fermentation with phytase-active yeasts. The IP6 degradation was measured after the dough was mixed for 19 min, after the completion of fermentation, and in bread after baking. Around 60–70% of the initial value of IP6 in the flour (10.02 mg/g) was reduced in the dough already after mixing, and additionally 10–20% was reduced after fermentation. The highest degradation of IP6 was seen in dough fermented with the phytase-active yeast strains S. cerevisiae L1.12 and P. kudriavzevii L3.04. Activity of wheat phytase in whole meal wheat dough seems to be the primary source of phytate degradation, and the degradation is considerably higher in this study with a mixing time of 19 min compared with earlier studies. The additional degradation of IP6 by phytase-active yeasts was not related to their extracellular phytase activities, suggesting that phytases from the yeasts are inhibited differently. Therefore, the highest degradation of IP6 and expected highest mineral bioavailability in whole meal wheat bread can be achieved by use of a phytase-active yeast strain with less inhibition. The strain S. cerevisiae L1.12 is suitable for this because it was the most effective yeast strain in reducing the amount of IP6 in dough during a short fermentation tim