Effect of carbon and nitrogen sources and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio on production of Exserohilum longirostratum.

The effects of carbon and nitrogen sources and the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio on the growth and sporulation of Exserohilum longirostratum were evaluated. Rice flour and malt extracts as the carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively, produced the greatest amount of mycelium. Sources that produced the most biomass were chosen as carbon and nitrogen sources in a C:N ratio test. However, in further experiments, glucose was chosen as the carbon source for the C:N ratio test because rice flour was found to be easily contaminated. Under the C:N ratio test (fixed carbon test), the highest spore production was obtained with a 5:1 ratio (4.78 × 106 spores/mL) and the highest biomass production was obtained with a 7.5:1 ratio (4.66 g/100 mL). In the fixed nitrogen test, 7.5:1 ratio provided the greatest output (4.08 × 106 spores/mL) whereas a 5:1 ratio produced the most biomass (4.33 g/100 mL). Meanwhile, the control which consisted of V8 agar without additional carbon and nitrogen source produced 1.07 × 106 spores/mL. These results provide information on the influence of carbon and nitrogen source and the C:N ratio that can be used in media for optimum growth and spore yield

Influence of Water Stress in Association with Aplication of Brassinolide and Minerals on Growth, Physiological and Biochemical Changes of Banana (Musa acuminata cv. Berangan)

Water stress or synonymy referring to the drought season is the major abiotic stress which affect growth, physiology and biochemical activity in plant and cause major losses to agriculture production sector. This study was aimed to determine the effects of exogenous application of brassinolide (BR) and combination of minerals on growth performance, physiological and biochemical changes of banana plantlets (Musa acuminata cv. Berangan) under water stress condition. The leaves of the whole plantlets were foliar sprayed for every two weeks interval with three treatments; (i) BR as control, (ii) magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) + calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and (iii) combination of BR + MgCO3 + CaCO3. The plants were also subjected to water stress treatments: 50%, 75% and 100% of the field capacity. The treatments were assigned as split-plot design in randomized complete block design (RCBD) arrangement. Water stress had significantly reduced major growth parameters (plant height, pseudo-stem diameter and total leaf area) but enhanced accumulation of proline and malondialdehyde content in leaves tissue. These findings also provided profound new insights and water stress by regulating the changes on stomata conductance and vapour pressure deficit under severe water stress condition

Prebiotic Activity Score Of Breadfruit Resistant Starch (Artocarpus Altilis), Breadfruit Flour, And Inulin during In-Vitro Fermentation By Pure Cultures (Lactobacillus Plantarum, And Bifidobacterium Bifidum)

The prebiotics activity score was a quantitative method to describes to which extent prebiotics (Breadfruit Resistant starch,Breadfruit flour and Inulin) to support the growth of L.plantarum and B.bifidum. The changes in growth after fermentation (0 hrs, 6 hrs, 12 hrs, 24 hrs, 48 hrs and 72 hrs) of bacteria strains on prebiotics and glucose in relation to changes in Escherichia coli grown under same condition was used to determine prebiotics score. The fermentation of the different carbon sources (Breadfruit Resistant starch,Breadfruit flour and Inulin)  by  L.plantarum and B.bifidum produce Short Chain Fatty Acids that determined by changes of pH throughout 72 hours of fermentation. The highest score (0.45) was obtained for L.plantarum that utilised breadfruit resistant starch after 12 hours of incubation time. However, the highest score (0.65) for B.bifidum also utilised breadfruit resistant starch as carbon sources after 48 hours of fermentation. It found that there was significant difference in pH changes for both strains. Greatest pH reduction for L.plantarum and B.bifidum for all samples after 6 hours of fermentation. From this study, resistant starch has potential as prebiotics as it meet the requirement as a prebiotics

Diversity and abundance of insects in the recreational forest of Bukit Keluang, Besut, Terengganu.

Bukit Keluang is one of the famous natural recreational sites in Besut, Terengganu due to their beautiful sandy beaches and beautiful landscapes. Bukit Keluang recreational forest consist coastal and lowland dipterocarp forest. The studies on the biodiversity are never been reported at this area and thus, we aimed to investigate the diversity and abundance of insects in the coastal and inland forest of Bukit Keluang recreational forest. We built two plots which are Plot A in the coastal area and Plot B in the inland forest at Bukit Keluang. For each plot, three types of insect traps were used; yellow pan traps, pitfall traps, and Malaise traps.  The traps were left for seven days and all insect samples collected were brought to the laboratory for sorting, enumerating and identifying up to order level. A total of 455 individuals of insects consisted of 10 orders (i.e. Hymenoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Collembola, Homoptera, Orthoptera, Dermaptera, Blattodea and Isoptera) were successfully collected from the forest of Bukit Keluang. Among them, Hymenoptera order dominated the number of individuals collected at 67.25% followed by Diptera (11.21%) whilst Collembola and Dermaptera were the least abundance order collected at 0.22%, respectively. The coastal forest recorded a total of 271 individuals (nine orders) while inland forest recorded 184 individuals (eight orders). No significant difference (p>0.05) of insect abundance was recorded between both plots. However, the Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index (H’) showed that the diversity of insects in the inland forest was slightly higher (H’=1.52) than the coastal forest (H’=0.86). We conclude that the insects’ diversity in Bukit Keluang is relatively higher in inland forest but lower in coastal forest. As no other insect survey has been conducted in this study area in the past, this study delivers a basic evidence and dataset of diversity and abundance for insect which may beneficial for further conservation research at Bukit Keluang in the future

Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Pisang Berangan (Musa paradisiaca) Pulp and Peel Extracts

Banana is a tropical fruit that has a diverse range of species belongings to the genus Musa and Musaceae family. Pisang Berangan or known as Musa paradisiaca is frequently sliced and fried and sold as popular street food in Malaysia. This produced banana waste from the banana peel that was not fully utilized, however, the peel and pulp of bananas are reported to have dominant antioxidant properties and organic materials. The study was carried out to determine the extraction yield, total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant activity of banana Pisang Berangan (Musa paradisiaca) pulp and peel extracted using different extraction solvents; ethanol and methanol at 70 % and 90 % concentrations. The antimicrobial properties were determined using the disc diffusion method (DDM), Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) assays. The highest extraction yield was from banana pulp (28.3 %) extracted using 90 % ethanol, followed by methanol 90 % (27.8 %). The total phenolic content (TPC) of alcoholic-extracted pulp and peel was in the range of 15.1 to 17.7 mg GAE/g. Among both pulp and peel extracts, the ethanol (90 % of solvent) extraction exhibited significantly higher antioxidant activity that has been analysed using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay to determine the IC50. The largest inhibition zone was observed for the ethanol extract of banana peel against Salmonella typhi at a concentration of 500 mg/mL. Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus exhibited the highest value of MIC and MBC while Salmonella typhi was the lowest of MIC and MBC value against banana pulp and peel alcoholic extracts. In general, the greater properties of pulp and peel extracts were obtained by using 90 % ethanol. The present study revealed that both ethanol and methanol extracts of the Musa spp. contain constituents with significant phenolic, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties for food processing explorations and sustainability

Evaluation of Abiotic Stress Response in In Vitro Culture of Hylocereus undatus

Hylocereus undatus or white dragon fruit is a vine-like cactus that is commonly grown as both an ornamental plant and a fruit crop. However, their response to various abiotic stresses is understudied. Once transferred to the soil, the plants are exposed to different abiotic stresses caused by extreme salinity, drought, pH changes, and oxidative responses. This will either affect its growth or fruit production. The present study aims to evaluate the effects of various abiotic stress which are common in agricultural areas in vitro. The seeds of white dragon fruit were germinated in Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with of 2.0 mg/L  6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 0.5 mg/L 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) before the shoots formed were induced in MS with different abiotic stress which were drought, salinity, pH and oxidative stress. The shoot and the root length were recorded at the fourth week of culture. Interestingly, slight drought stress with 20 g/L polyethylene glycol (PEG) 8000 induced shoot growth but further increase of PEG 8000 reduced shoot length significantly. Shoot length was the most inhibited at 200 mM NaCl and root failed to grow at this concentration. Shoot and root growth under pH stress was the lowest at pH 8. The length of shoot and root under oxidative stress were seen to decrease gradually with increase of H2O2 concentration but this was only significant in roots. In conclusion, roots were more vulnerable to some abiotic stresses than shoots were. A greater magnitude of stressors can be tested for further information of H. undatus tolerance to abiotic stresses.       &nbsp