Background and objective:Activated carbon is commonly used as an immobilisation matrix due to its large surface area,making it a highly desirable matrix for use in immobilising enzymes as preparation for use on the in...Background and objective:Activated carbon is commonly used as an immobilisation matrix due to its large surface area,making it a highly desirable matrix for use in immobilising enzymes as preparation for use on the industrial scale.The objective of this research is to determine the effectiveness of different acids for functionalisation on immobilisation capacity and also to characterize the functionalized activated carbon for the functional groups present.Materials and methods:Activated carbon was functionalised with three acids(hydrochloric acid,nitric acid and sulphuric acid)along with a control sample washed with distilled water.Immobilisation capacity was calculated with hydrochloric acid functionalized activated carbon(HCl-FAC)giving the highest immobilization capacity(6.022 U/g).Characterisation of the functionalised activated carbon was conducted using FT-IR(Fourier Transform Infra-Red)spectroscopy analysis of the samples with the aim of analyzing the various functional groups present to determine the sample with distinct characteristics thus telling the degree of adsorption of lipase onto the activated carbon powder.Results:HNO3-FAC(functionalized activated carbon)showed a very distinct pattern as a larger number of surface functional groups emerged.The immobilisation on a matrix ensures thermal stability and increased reusability of the enzyme.Therefore,in this research,lipase sourced from Candida antarctica was immobilised on acid functionalised activated carbon.The best acid for functionalisation was found to be hydrochloric acid.Conclusion:Due to the very distinct patterns shown by the FT-IR spectrum of the HNO3-FAC after a fair comparison with others,it allows for a larger number of surface functional groups which will definitely enhance the stability of the enzyme lipase.展开更多
Agriculture and farming are mainly dependent on weather especially in Malaysia as it received heavy rainfall throughout the years. An efficient crop or tree management system with a weather forecast needed for suitabl...Agriculture and farming are mainly dependent on weather especially in Malaysia as it received heavy rainfall throughout the years. An efficient crop or tree management system with a weather forecast needed for suitable planning of farming operation. Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFNN) algorithm was used in this study to predict rainfall and the main focus of this study is to analyze the factor that affect</span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">s</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> the performance of neural model. This study found that the model works better the more hidden nodes and the optimum learning rate is 0.01 with the RMSE 49% and the percentage accuracy is 57%. Besides that, it is found that the meteorology data also affect the model performance. Future research can be conducted to improve the rainfall forecast of this study and improv</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">e</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> the tree management system.展开更多
This study was conducted to recover edible bird’s nest(EBN)hydrolysates from different grades of EBN,including the industrial by-products,using enzymatic treatment.The nutrient,physicochemical properties and antioxid...This study was conducted to recover edible bird’s nest(EBN)hydrolysates from different grades of EBN,including the industrial by-products,using enzymatic treatment.The nutrient,physicochemical properties and antioxidant activities of the recovered hydrolysates at different hydrolysis times were evaluated.Results showed that the recovery yield of enzymatic hydrolysis was above 89%for all grades of EBN and the degree of hydrolysis increased over time.Nitrite content(0.321-0.433 mg/L)was below the permissible tolerance level for all samples.Interestingly,the antioxidant activities(DPPH and ABTS scavenging activities and ferric reducing antioxidant powder(FRAP)activity)were significantly higher(P≤0.05)in hydrolysates recovered from EBN by-products(EBNhC and EBNhD)as compared to the high grade EBN hydrolysates(EBNhA and EBNhB).The in-vitro probiotic activity of EBN and its hydrolysates were examined using the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum.Evidently,EBN by-products hydrolysate(EBNhD)recorded the highest number of L.plantarum(1.1×1011 CFU/mL),indicating that low grade EBN has the potential as prebiotic material that promotes probiotic activity.This study demonstrated the concept of using EBN by-products hydrolysates for various applications,such as functional ingredients with enhanced bioactivities,to improve its economic value.展开更多
Cost of biodiesel is primarily because of factors such as the feedstock, production process and materials. Apparently, the final biodiesel product is a bit expensive compared to fossil diesel fuel. While non-food feed...Cost of biodiesel is primarily because of factors such as the feedstock, production process and materials. Apparently, the final biodiesel product is a bit expensive compared to fossil diesel fuel. While non-food feedstock of high oil content such as <i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Jatropha</span></i> <i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">curcas</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> has been proposed to reduce the cost due to the feedstock, a promising two-step approach of hydro-esterification can possibly offset the production cost for oil resource with high free fatty acids. Most importantly, optimization of the materials and process is expected to reduce wastage, enhance product purity and generate less wastewater. However, optimizing product generation has been dauntingly elusive because several parameters are needed to be considered holistically. In this study, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize the yield and conversion of </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Jatropha</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> biodiesel from </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">J</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">.</span> <i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">curcas </span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">hydrolysate. An optimum Yield and conversion of 96% was achieved for both responses with an optimum temperature value of 60</span><span><span>°</span><span><span>C, 4 wt% for catalyst loading for 6 hrs reaction time. Findings imply that optimization study of </span><i><span>Jatropha curcas</span></i><span> hydrolysate for yield and conversion of fatty acid methyl esters using face centered central composite design of Design Expert 6.0.8 can ensure purity of product, conserve energy and reduce waste generation providing a significant frontier in biodiesel pricing.</span></span></span>展开更多
Some of the common practices to assess the composition of plant extract,including Carica papaya seed extract(CPSE)are direct injection of the extract,compound separation using polyethylene glycol capillary column(DB-W...Some of the common practices to assess the composition of plant extract,including Carica papaya seed extract(CPSE)are direct injection of the extract,compound separation using polyethylene glycol capillary column(DB-WAX),and non-linear-temperature programming(NLTP)of GC/MS analysis.This study specifically compared the coating of capillary column,sample derivatization,and temperature programming of GC/MS to determine the composition of CPSE.The retention indices(RI)of the detected compounds were determined and compared to the reference RI.In particular,5%phenyl-95%methylpolysiloxane(HP-5MS)-,DB-WAX-,and biscyanopropyl polysiloxane(HP-88)-coated capillary columns were used to identify the composition of CPSE.For this study,HP-5MS column,which separated the highest number of compounds(26 compounds)from CPSE,was deemed as the most suitable column.The GC/MS analysis of derivatized CPSE identified 21 compound groups,where fatty acids and fatty acid methyl esters served as the major compounds(80.23%),followed by these compounds in decreasing order:amides>nitriles>sterols>fatty aldehydes>organic acids.A stronger correlation determination between the carbon number and alkane retention time of linear-temperature programming(LTP)(R^(2)=0.9859)was found,as compared to its correlation determination with NLTP(R^(2)=0.9175),which exhibited an almost equal RI of LTP to the reference RI.Conclusively,GC/MS analysis for the derivatized CPSE using HP-5MS column separation and LTP is highly recommended.展开更多
Background Acacia seyal gum(ASG)is an abundant source of natural polyphenolic compounds(NPPCs)and antioxidant activity with numerous benefits and is often used in cancer treatment.The type of extraction technique can ...Background Acacia seyal gum(ASG)is an abundant source of natural polyphenolic compounds(NPPCs)and antioxidant activity with numerous benefits and is often used in cancer treatment.The type of extraction technique can significantly impact the yield and isolation of NPPCs from ASG.The traditional use of maceration extraction reportedly yields fewer NPPCs.Objectives This study investigated five extraction techniques for NPPCs and ASG antioxidant activity,namely:homogenisation,shaking,ultrasonication,magneticstirring,andmaceration.Materials and methods The evaluation of the antioxidant activity(AoA)of the extracted NPPCs from ASG used five assays,namely:total flavonoids content,Folin-Ciocalteu index,2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity,ferric reducing antioxidant power,and cupric reducingantioxidantcapacity.Results To minimise the data set dimensionality requires principal component analysis.The ultrasonic and maceration techniques were the best techniques to extract NPPCs and examine the AoA of ASG,with a high correlation between the NPPCs and AoA.However,the maceration process was slow(12 h)compared to ultrasonication(1 h).Slow extraction can result in a decline of the NPPCs due to polyphenol oxidase-enzyme and impact productivity.Conclusions These findings provide an essential guide for the choice of extraction techniques for the effective extraction of NPPCs from ASG and other plant materials.展开更多
文摘Background and objective:Activated carbon is commonly used as an immobilisation matrix due to its large surface area,making it a highly desirable matrix for use in immobilising enzymes as preparation for use on the industrial scale.The objective of this research is to determine the effectiveness of different acids for functionalisation on immobilisation capacity and also to characterize the functionalized activated carbon for the functional groups present.Materials and methods:Activated carbon was functionalised with three acids(hydrochloric acid,nitric acid and sulphuric acid)along with a control sample washed with distilled water.Immobilisation capacity was calculated with hydrochloric acid functionalized activated carbon(HCl-FAC)giving the highest immobilization capacity(6.022 U/g).Characterisation of the functionalised activated carbon was conducted using FT-IR(Fourier Transform Infra-Red)spectroscopy analysis of the samples with the aim of analyzing the various functional groups present to determine the sample with distinct characteristics thus telling the degree of adsorption of lipase onto the activated carbon powder.Results:HNO3-FAC(functionalized activated carbon)showed a very distinct pattern as a larger number of surface functional groups emerged.The immobilisation on a matrix ensures thermal stability and increased reusability of the enzyme.Therefore,in this research,lipase sourced from Candida antarctica was immobilised on acid functionalised activated carbon.The best acid for functionalisation was found to be hydrochloric acid.Conclusion:Due to the very distinct patterns shown by the FT-IR spectrum of the HNO3-FAC after a fair comparison with others,it allows for a larger number of surface functional groups which will definitely enhance the stability of the enzyme lipase.
文摘Agriculture and farming are mainly dependent on weather especially in Malaysia as it received heavy rainfall throughout the years. An efficient crop or tree management system with a weather forecast needed for suitable planning of farming operation. Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFNN) algorithm was used in this study to predict rainfall and the main focus of this study is to analyze the factor that affect</span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">s</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> the performance of neural model. This study found that the model works better the more hidden nodes and the optimum learning rate is 0.01 with the RMSE 49% and the percentage accuracy is 57%. Besides that, it is found that the meteorology data also affect the model performance. Future research can be conducted to improve the rainfall forecast of this study and improv</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">e</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> the tree management system.
基金funded by the Research Excellence Consortium(Konsortium Kecemerlangan Penyelidikan)(KKP/2020/UKMUKM/5/1)(JPT(BKPI)1000/016/018/25(21))the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme(FRGS/1/2019/WAB01/UKM/02/1)。
文摘This study was conducted to recover edible bird’s nest(EBN)hydrolysates from different grades of EBN,including the industrial by-products,using enzymatic treatment.The nutrient,physicochemical properties and antioxidant activities of the recovered hydrolysates at different hydrolysis times were evaluated.Results showed that the recovery yield of enzymatic hydrolysis was above 89%for all grades of EBN and the degree of hydrolysis increased over time.Nitrite content(0.321-0.433 mg/L)was below the permissible tolerance level for all samples.Interestingly,the antioxidant activities(DPPH and ABTS scavenging activities and ferric reducing antioxidant powder(FRAP)activity)were significantly higher(P≤0.05)in hydrolysates recovered from EBN by-products(EBNhC and EBNhD)as compared to the high grade EBN hydrolysates(EBNhA and EBNhB).The in-vitro probiotic activity of EBN and its hydrolysates were examined using the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum.Evidently,EBN by-products hydrolysate(EBNhD)recorded the highest number of L.plantarum(1.1×1011 CFU/mL),indicating that low grade EBN has the potential as prebiotic material that promotes probiotic activity.This study demonstrated the concept of using EBN by-products hydrolysates for various applications,such as functional ingredients with enhanced bioactivities,to improve its economic value.
文摘Cost of biodiesel is primarily because of factors such as the feedstock, production process and materials. Apparently, the final biodiesel product is a bit expensive compared to fossil diesel fuel. While non-food feedstock of high oil content such as <i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Jatropha</span></i> <i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">curcas</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> has been proposed to reduce the cost due to the feedstock, a promising two-step approach of hydro-esterification can possibly offset the production cost for oil resource with high free fatty acids. Most importantly, optimization of the materials and process is expected to reduce wastage, enhance product purity and generate less wastewater. However, optimizing product generation has been dauntingly elusive because several parameters are needed to be considered holistically. In this study, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize the yield and conversion of </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Jatropha</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> biodiesel from </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">J</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">.</span> <i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">curcas </span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">hydrolysate. An optimum Yield and conversion of 96% was achieved for both responses with an optimum temperature value of 60</span><span><span>°</span><span><span>C, 4 wt% for catalyst loading for 6 hrs reaction time. Findings imply that optimization study of </span><i><span>Jatropha curcas</span></i><span> hydrolysate for yield and conversion of fatty acid methyl esters using face centered central composite design of Design Expert 6.0.8 can ensure purity of product, conserve energy and reduce waste generation providing a significant frontier in biodiesel pricing.</span></span></span>
基金This work was supported by the Malaysia Fundamental Research Grant Scheme(FRGS19-041-0649 or FRGS/1/2018/STG04/UIAM/03/1)of Ministry of Higher Education Malaysiathe Research University Grant(vote number 9328200)of Universiti Putra Malaysia.
文摘Some of the common practices to assess the composition of plant extract,including Carica papaya seed extract(CPSE)are direct injection of the extract,compound separation using polyethylene glycol capillary column(DB-WAX),and non-linear-temperature programming(NLTP)of GC/MS analysis.This study specifically compared the coating of capillary column,sample derivatization,and temperature programming of GC/MS to determine the composition of CPSE.The retention indices(RI)of the detected compounds were determined and compared to the reference RI.In particular,5%phenyl-95%methylpolysiloxane(HP-5MS)-,DB-WAX-,and biscyanopropyl polysiloxane(HP-88)-coated capillary columns were used to identify the composition of CPSE.For this study,HP-5MS column,which separated the highest number of compounds(26 compounds)from CPSE,was deemed as the most suitable column.The GC/MS analysis of derivatized CPSE identified 21 compound groups,where fatty acids and fatty acid methyl esters served as the major compounds(80.23%),followed by these compounds in decreasing order:amides>nitriles>sterols>fatty aldehydes>organic acids.A stronger correlation determination between the carbon number and alkane retention time of linear-temperature programming(LTP)(R^(2)=0.9859)was found,as compared to its correlation determination with NLTP(R^(2)=0.9175),which exhibited an almost equal RI of LTP to the reference RI.Conclusively,GC/MS analysis for the derivatized CPSE using HP-5MS column separation and LTP is highly recommended.
基金funded by the Islamic Development Bank(IsDB) as a merit postdoctoral fellowship to the first author(Dr.Ahmed A.M.Elnour,grant No.2020-276278),Malaysia.
文摘Background Acacia seyal gum(ASG)is an abundant source of natural polyphenolic compounds(NPPCs)and antioxidant activity with numerous benefits and is often used in cancer treatment.The type of extraction technique can significantly impact the yield and isolation of NPPCs from ASG.The traditional use of maceration extraction reportedly yields fewer NPPCs.Objectives This study investigated five extraction techniques for NPPCs and ASG antioxidant activity,namely:homogenisation,shaking,ultrasonication,magneticstirring,andmaceration.Materials and methods The evaluation of the antioxidant activity(AoA)of the extracted NPPCs from ASG used five assays,namely:total flavonoids content,Folin-Ciocalteu index,2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity,ferric reducing antioxidant power,and cupric reducingantioxidantcapacity.Results To minimise the data set dimensionality requires principal component analysis.The ultrasonic and maceration techniques were the best techniques to extract NPPCs and examine the AoA of ASG,with a high correlation between the NPPCs and AoA.However,the maceration process was slow(12 h)compared to ultrasonication(1 h).Slow extraction can result in a decline of the NPPCs due to polyphenol oxidase-enzyme and impact productivity.Conclusions These findings provide an essential guide for the choice of extraction techniques for the effective extraction of NPPCs from ASG and other plant materials.
