Potential of fenugreek seed extract for health, the environment and the economy

Bioactive compounds extracted from natural sources and plants have received potential interest in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Recently, the use of synthetic antioxidants such as BHT and BHA are not very encouraged to be used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Beside the application of synthetic surfactants at high volume in health-related products are prohibited by world health organization (WHO) due to their risks and side effects. In this research, fenugreek seed has been used to produce a multifunctional bioactive extract containing saponin, phenolic and antioxidant compounds via microwave-assisted extraction technology. Fenugreek seed is a low price and abundantly found material with many health benefits. The extract characterized using LC-QTOF-MS, FTIR, SEM, and also determined the total saponin, total phenolic compounds inside the extract. Due to the high amount of saponin inside the extract, it has been tested for emulsification and wettability properties. In addition, the properties of saponin makes it a good biosurfactant for food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, water and soil treatment industries. It has been reported that biosurfactant are efficiently used for removal of heavy metals from water and soil

Highly efficient and low cost UMP surfactant for crude oil transportation

Heavy crude oils have a large share of the world’s potentially recoverable oil reserves. They are characterized by API gravity below 22.3° and possess extremely high viscosity, generally from 1,000 to more than 100,000 mPa·s. Transportation of heavy crude oils through pipelines is highly complex operation, which is still one of the major challenges for petroleum industry, especially in offshore environment (low temperature conditions). Petroleum industries used to avoid production of heavy crude oil reserves due to economic aspects and technical complexities involved with their transportation. However, to meet globally increasing demand of energy, they have started exploration and exploitation of heavy crude oils. In this invention, suitable surfactant (NS-19-02) has been formulated in the laboratory and characterized using standard analytical instruments. Further the formulated surfactant has been utilized to prepare o/w emulsions of heavy crude oils collected from different oil fields. The formulated surfactant characterized as environmentally friendly, economically competitive and technically visible

Postpartum diet and its relation with anemia

Postpartum diet is important in ensuring the mother can heal and reach back to her optimal potential. Imbalance nutrient, less than the body requirement may lead to anemia which can then take a toll to the mother, her family and her relationship; which is the opposite of the objective of the diet restriction. The aim of this study is to identify the significant of cultural postpartum diet and its relation with anemia while its specific objectives are to determine social beliefs to the recovery of postpartum Malay women, to evaluate the relationship between postpartum diet taboos on anemia and to identify the percentages of postpartum Malay women who follow the traditional beliefs. Cross sectional study design with a semi-self-administered questionnaires and experimental study was used. The population of the study was Kuantans population that came to the Beserah Polyclinic and Jaya Gading Polyclinic. The Malay postpartum confinement phase is different from the other community. Malay postpartum mothers observed the postpartum dietary belief handed down by the elders while following advices from health care practitioners. The implication of this study is that postpartum poultry intake have relationship with the Hb level after childbirth while if the intake does not result in discomfort to the mother, the mother would consume it if she considered herself as high risk of achieving anemia