Evaluation of Polyphenol Content and Antioxidant Activities of Some Selected Organic and Aqueous Extracts of Cornsilk (Zea mays Hairs).

These In this study, the polyphenol content and antioxidant activities of some organic and aqueous extracts of cornsilk were evaluated. Cornsilk powder was extracted with methanol, ethanol, water and ethyl acetate solvent by using soxhlet extraction method. The antioxidant activities of all cornsilk extracts were determined via β-carotene bleaching method, 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH.) radical scavenging, superoxide anion (O2-) radical scavenging and ferric reducing power activity (FRAP). The highest polyphenol content was exhibited by the methanol extract (101.99 mg GAE/g) compared to that of ethanol (93.43 mg GAE/g), water (35.34 mg GAE/g) and ethyl acetate extract (6.70 mg GAE/g). The flavanoid content of cornsilk extracts was in the range of 0.66 to 9.26 mg catechin equivalent/g extract showing the highest content found in the methanol extract. In the antioxidant assays, the methanol extract exhibited the strongest free radical scavenging and reducing activity as compared to the other extracts. In the β-carotene assay, the methanol (66.05%) extract, showed highest bleaching activity compared to the ethanol (52.92%), water (38.65%) and ethyl acetate (26.33%) extract. The IC50 values of methanol, ethanol, water and ethylacetate extract were 140.89 μg/ml, 143.55 μg/ml, 195.21 μg/ml and 411.69 μg/ml respectively. The lowest IC50 in the superoxide scavenging activity was exhibited by the methanol extract (261.41 μg/ml). However, the IC50 value of ethyl acetate extract (412.16 μg/ml) was found lower than that of ethanol (620.91 μg/m) and water extract (1174.54 μg/m). In FRAP assay, the ferric reducing activity of methanol extract reached 56.41% at 1600 μg/ml while ethanol (51.16%), water (35.01%) and ethyl acetate extract (27.21%) exhibited lower reducing activity. These results indicate that cornsilk extracts have shown strong antioxidant activities. With the highest yield of polyphenols and the strongest antioxidant capacity, the methanol extract is highly recommended to be implemented in the pharmaceutical and health related industries to treat oxidative stress related disease

Examining the Effect of Customer Satisfaction towards Repurchase Intention: A Study of Hotel Sector in Selangor, Malaysia

This paper is attempting to verify the effect of customer satisfaction on repurchase intention in hotel industry in Shah Alam, Selangor. As a conceptual paper, the research is considered as a quantitative study. Respondents from 400 consumers are used and will be recruited on a voluntary basis. Considering the nature of the study, the complexity of the research model and the relatively small sample size, analysis of moment structure (AMOS) is selected as the statistical tool to analyse the data. The finding of the study expects to contribute to the marketers as well as practitioners with the valuable insight on the crucial of customer satisfaction and repurchase intention in the hotel sector

The Relationship between Co-Creation Value and Facebook Shopping

This study aims to examine the factors that contribute Facebook shopping. As a conceptual paper, this research explores the prime factors of online shopping by evaluating co-creation value as a predictor which might influence on customer\u27s intention in Facebook shopping. This study covers a quantitative research. All of the respondents were recruited on a voluntary basis. The population will be used in this research is the Internet users in Malaysia. The target respondents of this study are the consumers who have experience in online shopping in Facebook. In this research, the lowest respondents from the individual Internet users are not predicted to be less than 400. The data collection will be carried out via email questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis will be employed to elucidate the relationship between the variables to obtain an equation that represents the best prediction of dependent variable from the independent variable. Considering the nature of the study, the complexity of the research model and the relatively small sample size, Partial Least Squares (PLS) are selected as the statistical tool to analyse the quantitative data. Using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), the finding of the study expects to contribute to the practitioners in the e-marketing sector with valuable insights on the important of co-creation value in stimulating their intention in buying online via social networking as Facebook

Cornsilk as an Alternate Functional Ingredient

Corn trees have been cultivated about 5000 years ago and it is known to be derived from a wild grass native to Mexico and Central America (Dermastia et al., 2009). The name ‘Zea’ comes from the Greek word which means cereal or grain and the word ‘mays’ is adopted from a Spanish voyager named Columbus, who collected the grain and brought it over to Europe from America (Desjardins & McCarthy, 2004; Eckhoff et al., 2009). Since its domestication, corn plant spreads rapidly around the world in the 15th century, mainly in the temperate regions (Eckoff et al., 2009). Corn is introduced into Mediterranean and South East Asia region in the 16th century by the Portuguese (Desjardin & McCarty, 2004). Corn tree is about 5 to 7 feet tall having long and green leaves attached to its stalk. It requires a warm weather climate, nutrient rich soil and abundant moisture for growth. Corn plant is monoecious which means both male and female flowers develop on the same plant. Its male flower or sometimes referred to as tassel is located on top of the plant while the female flower developed from shoots and arises from between the stalk and leaf sheath. Female inflorescence also refers as an ‘ear’. Normally, two to three shoots are found within one stalk of the corn plant. Male inflorescences are seen on top of a corn plant and are actively involved in pollination

Physical properties and microstructure of butter cake added with Persea americana puree

The effect of addition of avocado (Persea americana) puree on the physical and microstructure of butter cake was studied. Butter cakes were made by replacing butter with 10, 30 and 50% of avocado puree. Physical properties including batter specific gravity, volume, colour and image analysis of cellular structure of the crumb were analyzed. Texture profile analysis was determined using texture analyzer. The results showed that with the increased amount of avocado puree, the batter specific gravity increased while volume of the cakes reduced. The texture profile analysis showed that the cakes became harder as the amount of avocado puree increased, while cohesiveness was not affected. The cellular structure of the crumb exhibited a decrease in the number of air cells while the average cell size increased with addition of avocado puree. The colour analysis showed that the cake crumb became darker as the aavocado puree was increased

Dehydrated Maydis stigma Enhances Nutritional and Antioxidative Capacities of Butter Cookies

Background: Maydis stigma is generally disposed after taking the cornlettes as vegetable. Objective: In the present study, Maydis stigma powder (MSP) was partially replaced with wheat flour at the levels of 5, 10 and 15% in cookies preparation. Nutritional compositions were measured using standard methods and instrumental texture properties were also determined. Polyphenol compounds of cookies was determined using High Performance Liquid Chromatography technique while antioxidative activities were performed using FRAP and DPPH methods. Results: The incorporation of MSP in cookies increase the amount of protein, dietary fiber and ash content compared to cookie prepared from wheat flour (control). The present study also demonstrated that considerable higher polyphenol content (60.4% to 86.8%) and antioxidative improvement has attained by incorporation of MSP in cookie formulations. The MSP-based cookies have stronger free radical scavenging capacity (24.45 % to 62.73%) and ferric reducing capacity (16.94 to 342.00 μmol TE/g) with higher gallic acid and ferulic acid compound compared to all-wheat based cookies. Conclusion: Cookies with high antioxidative capacities can be prepared by replacing wheat flour with MSP up to 10%. Thus, MSP is suggested as potential nutritional and natural antioxidant sources for processed food products

Maydis stigma Improves Physical Traits and Unchanged Sensory Properties of Beef and Chicken Patties

The proximate composition, physical traits and sensory properties of beef and chicken patties incorporated with various level of dried cornsilk (Maydis stigma) were studied. The beef and chicken patties were formulated with either 2%, 4% or 6% of cornsilk. Both cooked beef and chicken patties incorporated with 6% cornsilk recorded the highest protein concentration at 23.3% and 28.42%, respectively. Both cooked beef and chicken patties containing 6% cornsilk significantly recorded the lowest concentration of fat at 11.4% and 14.60%, respectively. Beef and chicken patties formulated with 6% cornsilk recorded the highest cooking yield at 80.13% and 83.03% compared to other treatments. The inclusion of cornsilk did not change the sensory properties and consumer acceptability of cornsilk-based beef and chicken patties. Cornsilk fibre has been effective in improving cooking yield, moisture and fat retention of beef and chicken pattie

Effect of Partial Replacement of Wheat Flour with Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus sajor-caju) Powder on Nutritional Composition and Sensory Properties of Butter Biscuit (Kesan Penggantian Sebahagian Tepung Gandum dengan Serbuk Cendawan Tiram Kelabu (Pleurotus sajor-caju) terhadap Komposisi Pemakanan dan Ciri-ciri Sensori Biskut Mentega)

Nutrient composition and sensory investigation of butter biscuits incorporated with various levels of grey oyster mushroom (Pleurotus sajor-caju, PSC) powder were studied. The biscuits were formulated with 0, 2, 4 or 6% of PSC powder to partially replace wheat flour. Our results showed that butter biscuit formulated with 6% PSC powder significantly (p≤ 0.05) recorded the highest protein content (6.94%) as compared with control (6.50%). Meanwhile, the addition of 2% PSC powder in biscuit does not affect the fat content (20.71%) compared with control (20.52%). Both biscuits containing 4% and 6% PSC powder recorded 5.34 g/ 100 g and 5.52 g/ 100 g total dietary fibre (TDF), respectively and significantly higher (p≤0.05) than control biscuit (4.84 g/ 100 g). Biscuits formulated with 4% and 6% PSC powder had significantly higher β-glucan concentration at 0.72 and 0.79 g/ 100 g than control biscuit (0.66 g/ 100 g). In the sensory evaluation, biscuits incorporated with 2% PSC powder had the highest scores for all sensory attributes except for crispiness and flavor. Butter biscuit containing 4% PSC powder had score values of 5.5 and 4.5 for crispiness and flavor, respectively. The present study suggested that incorporation of PSC powder up to 4% to replace wheat flour improved crispiness and flavour, increased concentration of protein, dietary fibre and β-glucan but did not affect the fat content of butter biscuit. || Komposisi nutrien dan kajian berkaitan penilaian sensori biskut mentega yang ditambah dengan cendawan tiram kelabu (Pleurotus sajor-caju, PSC) pada peratusan berbeza telah dikaji. Biskut mentega telah diformulasikan dengan serbuk PSC pada peratusan 0, 2, 4 atau 6% bagi menggantikan sebahagian tepung gandum. Keputusan kajian mendapati biskut cendawan yang diformulasikan dengan 6% serbuk PSC merekodkan kandungan protein yang paling tinggi dan signifikan (p≤0.05) iaitu 6.94% berbanding dengan kawalan (6.50%). Sementara itu, penambahan PSC pada paras 2% dalam biskut tidak mempengaruhi kandungan lemak (20.71%) berbanding dengan biskut kawalan (20.52%). Kedua-dua biskut yang mengandungi 4% dan 6% serbuk PSC merekodkan 5.34 g/ 100 g dan 5.52 g/ 100 g serat diet jumlah (TDF) dan signifikan (p≤0.05) berbanding biskut kawalan (4.84 g/ 100 g). Biskut yang diformulasikan dengan 4% dan 6% serbuk PSC mengandungi β-glukan yang tinggi dan signifikan iaitu sebanyak 0.72 dan 0.79 g/ 100 g berbanding dengan biskut kawalan (0.66 g/ 100 g). Penilaian sensori menunjukkan biskut yang ditambah dengan 2% PSC diberi skor yang tertinggi bagi semua atribut kecuali kerangupan dan perisa. Biskut mentega yang mengandungi 4% serbuk PSC merekodkan skor kerangupan dan perisa yang paling tinggi iaitu masing-masing 5.5 dan 4.5. Kajian ini menunjukkan penambahan serbuk PSC sehingga 4% bagi menggantikan sebahagian tepung gandum dapat memperbaiki kerangupan dan perisa atribut sensori, meningkatkan kandungan protein, serat diet dan β-glukan tetapi tidak mempengaruhi kandungan lemak biskut tersebut

Total Polyphenol Content and Free Radical Scavenging Activity of Cornsilk (Zea mays hairs) (Kandungan Polifenol Jumlah dan Aktiviti Perencatan Radikal Bebas dalam Rerambut Jagung Muda (Zea mays Hairs)

Total polyphenol content and free radical scavenging activity of cornsilk (Zea mays hairs) extracts were determined. Our result showed the total polyphenol content of methanolic and water extracts were 272.81 mgGAE/100 g and 256.36 mgGAE/100 mg dry plant, respectively. The total flavonoid content of methanolic extract (38.01 mg catechin equivalent/100 g) was significantly higher (p<0.05) than the water extract (4.11 mg catechin equivalent/100 g). In radical scavenging activity, the activity of methanolic extract was significantly higher (p<0.05) than the water extract. The methanolic extract scavenged at 81.7% of free radicals at 1000 μg/mL while the water extract showed 63.5% of inhibition. In conclusion, cornsilk contained high polyphenol components with strong free radical scavenging activity thus could be considered as potential source of natural antioxidant. || Kandungan jumlah polifenol dan aktiviti perencatan radikal bebas dalam ekstrak rerambut jagung muda (Zea mays hairs) telah ditentukan. Hasil kajian mendapati jumlah kandungan polifenol dalam ekstrak metanol and berair masing-masing adalah 272.81 mgGAE/100 g dan 256.36 mgGAE/100 mg (asas kering). Kandungan flavonoid bagi ekstrak metanolik (38.01 mg catechin/100 g) adalah lebih tinggi secara signifikan (p<0.05) daripada ekstrak berair (4.11 mg catechin/100 g). Dalam aktiviti perencatan radikal bebas, peratus perencatan ekstrak metanol adalah lebih tinggi secara signifikan (p<0.05) berbanding dengan ekstrak berair. Ekstrak metanol merencat sebanyak 81.7% pada 1000 μg/mL sementara ekstrak berair menunjukkan peratus perencatan sebanyak 63.5%. Kesimpulannya, sutera jagung mengandungi komponen polifenol yang tinggi dengan aktiviti perencatan radikal bebas yang kuat. Hal ini mencadangkan sutera jagung dipertimbangkan sebagai sumber anti-pengoksida semula jadi yang berpotensi