Effect of reducing and acidifying anti-browning agents on fresh cut guava / Noor Suhaila Mohammed

Fresh cut products can be defined as any kinds of fruits or vegetables that have been processing to the end product that is ready to be eaten. The market for fresh cut products has grown rapidly due to the freshness and convenience. However, fresh cut products would undergo enzymatic browning as a result from wounding. The objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of reducing and acidifying anti-browning agents on fresh cut guava by delaying enzymatic browning. The fresh cut guava was treated by dipping into anti-browning agents with 1.8 % concentrations (w/v) for 8 minutes. The treated fresh cut guava were then transferred into polyethylene bags and stored in the chiller along 12 days at 4°C. The fresh cut guava also dipped into distilled water as control. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities in terms of percentage of inhibition and total phenolic contents (TPC) were evaluated every 4 days interval. The results obtained showed that citric acid treatment was more effectively inhibited PPO activity on fresh cut guava compared to ascorbic acid treatment during day 4, 8, and 12. This is because, citric acid treatment show the highest percentage inhibition of PPO up to 76.92% on day 4, 92.22% on day 8 and 89.60% on day 12. Moreover, TPC showed decrease in contents from day 4 to day 12 for all treatments while sharp reduction of phenolic contents obtained from control fresh cut guava from day 4 to day 8 and it may due to the reaction of phenol to PPO enzymes. It can be concluded that, the higher percentage of PPO inhibition, the lower PPO activity and the higher the total phenols

Review of Malaysian retail banking market: an industrial organizational perspective

The attempt of this paper is to analyze the Malaysian retail banking market within structure-conduct-performance paradigm framework which roots from the industrial organizational field. The Malaysian retail banking market practices dual banking system which consists of conventional and Islamic banking firms. Therefore, the analysis in this paper will focus on the structure, conduct and performance of both banking system descriptively. The structure of the retail banking market will also focused on several aspects such as market size and distribution, market competitiveness, market delineation and barriers to entry. While, marketing expenses, distribution of the branches and the quality of services will be analyzed to evaluate the banking firms conduct in the market. Meanwhile, the performance of the banking firms will be analyzed from two perspectives namely, ratio analysis and welfare perspectives. Overall, the study shows that both domestic and foreign banking firms play a significant role in the Malaysian retail banking market

Cloves protect the heart, liver and lens of diabetic rats

Clove oil was previously reported to modulate physiological responses in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. This study attempts to evaluate the in vivo organ and tissue protective effects of dietary cloves (Eugenia aromaticum) in chronic hyperglycaemia. The cloves (equivalent to 100 mg total eugenol + eugenyl acetate per kg body weight/day) were administered orally to streptozotocin-induced diabetic male Sprague-Dawley rats. Fasting blood glucose levels, as well as organ tissue physical and biochemical markers, were monitored. Dietary supplementation with cloves reduced tissue injuries, especially in the lens and cardiac muscles, and to a lesser extent in the liver but not the kidneys. Additionally, the cloves treatment significantly reduced blood sugar increases and lipid peroxidation in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats by restoring the antioxidant enzyme levels. Cloves inhibited hyperglycaemia-induced oxidative tissue damage and cataract formation in the eye lens. This study demonstrates the in vivo antioxidative organ protective effects of clove in diabetics

A Survey on Emotion Recognition for Human Robot Interaction

With the recent developments of technology and the advances in artificial intelligent and machine learning techniques, it becomes possible for the robot to acquire and show the emotions as a part of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). An emotional robot can recognize the emotional states of humans so that it will be able to interact more naturally with its human counterpart in different environments. In this article, a survey on emotion recognition for HRI systems has been presented. The survey aims to achieve two objectives. Firstly, it aims to discuss the main challenges that face researchers when building emotional HRI systems. Secondly, it seeks to identify sensing channels that can be used to detect emotions and provides a literature review about recent researches published within each channel, along with the used methodologies and achieved results. Finally, some of the existing emotion recognition issues and recommendations for future works have been outlined

Nutrient content of tropical edible seaweeds, Eucheuma cottonii, Caulerpa lentillifera and Sargassum polycystum

The proximate composition, vitamin C, α-tocopherol, dietary fibers, minerals, fatty acid and amino acid profiles of three tropical edible seaweeds, Eucheuma cottonii (Rhodophyta), Caulerpa lentillifera (Chlorophyta) and Sargassum polycystum (Phaeophyta) were studied. The seaweeds were high in ash (37.15–46.19%) and dietary fibers (25.05–39.67%) and low in lipid content (0.29–1.11%) on dry weight (DW) basis. These seaweeds contained 12.01–15.53% macro-minerals (Na, K, Ca and Mg) and 7.53–71.53 mg.100 g−1 trace minerals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Se and I). The crude protein content of E. cottonii (9.76% DW) and C. lentillifera (10.41% DW) were higher than that of S. polycystum (5.4% DW), and protein chemical scores are between 20 and 67%. The PUFA content of E. cottonii was 51.55%, C. lentillifera 16.76% and S. polycystum 20.34%. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), accounted for 24.98% of all fatty acids in E. cottonii. These seaweeds have significant vitamin C (∼35 mg.100 g−1) and α-tocopherol (5.85–11.29 mg.100 g−1) contents

Modulation of lipid metabolism by Centella asiatica in oxidative stress rats.

A study was carried out to investigate the effects of Centella asiatica leaf on lipid metabolism of oxidative stress rats. The rats were fed 0.1% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) with either 0.3% (w/w) C. asiatica extract, 5%C. asiatica powder (w/w), or 0.3% (w/w) α-tocopherol for 25 wk. Results of the study showed that C. asiatica powder significantly (P < 0.05) lowered serum low-density lipoprotein compared to that of control rats (rats fed H2O2 only). At the end of the study C. asiatica-fed rats were also found to have significantly (P < 0.05) higher high-density lipoprotein and lower triglyceride level compared to rats fed only normal diet. However, cholesterol level of rats fed both C. asiatica extract and powder was found to be significantly (P < 0.05) higher compared to that of control rats. It was interesting to note that consumption of C. asiatica significantly decreased body and liver weights of the rats. Histological examinations revealed no obvious changes in all rats studied. Quantitative analysis of C. asiatica leaf revealed high concentration of total phenolic compounds, in particular, catechin, quercetin, and rutin

Effect of various coatings on the chemical changes of different pineapple cultivars (N36 and Gandul) at low temperature storage

The chemical changes in N36 and Gandul pineapples stored at 10 ± 1 °C; 85–88% RH and the effects of various surface coatings (palm oil, liquid paraffin, Semperfresh) were examined by monitoring fruit total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), sugar-acid ratios (TSS:TA), pH and individual sugars (glucose, fructose and sucrose). Palm oil was effective in reducing ascorbic acid loses of N36 pineapple. All surface treatments significantly (p <0.05) reduced the TSS value in all pineapple cultivars except for N36 pineapple treated with palm oil. In N36 pineapple, the palm oil caused an increase in the TSS during storage. Sugar-acid ratio was significantly (p <0.05) increased by palm oil as observed in all pineapples, however, sample treated with Semperfresh and paraffin caused an increase in the sugar-acid ratio as observed in Gandul and N36 pineapples, respectively. Titratable acidity (TA) was significantly (p <0.05) reduced by all surface treatments in all pineapples except for paraffin treatment on Gandul pineapple. Paraffin treatment retained ascorbic acid in all pineapples during storage. However the palm oil coating only retained ascorbic acid on N36 pineapple. Paraffin coating significantly (p <0.05) reduced fructose and sucrose in N36 pineapple, but significantly (p <0.05) increased the fructose content in Gandul pineapple. Fructose, sucrose and total sugar in Gandul pineapple were significantly (p <0.05) reduced by palm oil and Semperfresh treatments

Effect of different Fruitone concentrations on the physical characteristics and postharvest physiological disorder of cold stored pineapple

Fruitone CPA (2–(3 Chlorophenoxy) propionic acid) is a plant growth regulator found to exert many beneficial effects on the characteristics of pineapple during development and postharvest storage at low temperature. A study was carried out on the effect of different concentrations of Fruitone CPA (0–44 ppm active ingredient) on the physical characteristics (weight loss, colour, firmness) and sensory evaluation (appearance, colour, texture, odour, flavour, sourness, sweetness, and overall acceptability) of pineapple (cv. Gandul) during storage (10 ± 1 °C) for fresh consumption. Low concentrations of Fruitone CPA (8.8 ppm) was sufficient in maintaining the quality of pineapple in terms of reduction in weight loss, delayed ripening, and increased skin, pulp and core firmness due to alteration of shape, size, fruitlet air space and internal atmosphere. The effect of Fruitone CPA in improving firmness was more noticeable on the skin than the pulp of the pineapple. Fruitone CPA treatment (44 ppm) has potential in producing pineapple resistant to internal browning disorder and significantly (p <0.05) increased the sensory score in terms of appearance, colour and texture

Polyphenol rich oil palm leaves extract reduce hyperglycaemia and lipid oxidation in STZ-rats

Diabetes mellitus is a degenerative disease affecting about 25% of people over 40 years and is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The oil palm (Elaies guineensis) leaf is a major waste of the palm oil industry, which is among the top vegetable oil industry in the world. This study aims to evaluate the potential anti-diabetic effects of Oil palm leaves (OPL) ethanolic extract on normal and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced hyperglycaemic rats. OPL were administered orally at 50, 100 and 200mg per kg body weight/day) to Sprague Dawley rats and monitored for its glycaemic, lipidemic and antioxidant modulating effects. The Oil palm leaves (OPL) ethanolic extract treatment dose-dependently reduced blood glucose and oxidation in the STZ rats, and restored antioxidants enzymes levels. The optimum dose was 100mg/kg, which effectively reduced liver and kidney damage to the level of normal rats. This is the first study on dietary OPL ethanolic extract ability to modulate physiological responses and show organ protective effects against tissue damage in STZ-induced chronic hyperglycaemic rats. At the doses used OPL showed no adverse or chronic toxicity effects in these rats, indicating its potential use as a new functional food ingredient