Journal Of Agrobiotechnology (Journal of UniSZA - Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin)
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Determination of Nickel and Cadmium in Freshwater Fishes at Sungai Kuantan, Sungai Riau And Sungai Pinang
Get PDFHeavy metal exhibit toxic and persistent characteristics, can enter into the food chains and the ecosystem where they cause adverse impact on the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystem. Heavy metal pollution in Malaysia has become a major health concern for humans. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the level of cadmium (Cd) and nickel (Ni) in the muscle and gill of fishes collected from the Sungai Kuantan and Sungai Riau. Field sampling was conducted between September and December 2017. Five different species of fishes: Barbonymus gonionotus (Lampam Jawa), B. schwanenfeldii( Lampam Sungai), Hampala macrolepidota(Sebarau), Chitala chitala (Belida), and Hemibagrus nemurus(Baung) were digested by using acid digestion method and analysed with Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS). Concentration of Cd among species were in order of: H. macrolepidota >B.gonionotus> B. schwanenfeldii> C.chitala> H.nemurus, whereas Ni level in fishes were: C. chitala> H. macrolepidota> B. gonionotus> H. nemurus> B. schwanenfeldii. Among all the species, H. macrolepidota from Sungai Kuantan had the highest Cd in both muscle (0.1761±0.0062¬mg/kg) and gills (0.2938±0.0066mg/kg) whereas the highest Ni level in muscle was noted in C. chitala from Sungai Kuantan with (0.1473±0.0755 mg/kg) and in gills of B.gonionotus (0.4544±0.0470mg/kg) from the same river respectively. It was obtained that there was a significant difference (p<0.05) of Cd in muscle between species. Ni concentration in fishes was below the permissible limit stipulated by World Health Organizations WHO (1985) and Food and Agriculture Organizations (2012) but the concentration of Cd was recorded high. However, it was still below the World Health Organization (WHO) 1985 and Malaysian Food Act (MFA) 1983
Production of Agarwood Resin in Aquilaria beccariana Using Inducement Technology
Get PDFAgarwood is a type of resin impregnated wood produced from the wounded Aquilaria trees. This agarwood gives a pleasant fragrant when it is burned. It becomes high-priced and increase demanded in the world due to the depletion of wild agarwood in the forest caused by illegal poaching activities. Agarwood resin can only be produced by injuring caused by lightning or wounded by animals under natural conditions. However, the natural process of resin accumulation is uncertain and time-consuming. Therefore, we developed an agarwood inducement technique that served as the alternative way to induce the agarwood formation in a short time. Three inducement techniques, including the injecting method, knocking method and combination of injecting & knocking method were applied to induce resin formation. In this study, we evaluated the technique for producing agarwood in species Aquilaria beccariana, which is native and only can be found in Borneo Malaysia. For A. beccariana trees treated with the inducement technique, resin formed and spread throughout the cell in the trunk. The evaluation results showed that the agarwood yield per tree reached around 5 to 7 kilogram. Furthermore, this agarwood derived from the induction was found to have a similar quality with the wild agarwood. This indicates the inducement technology had successfully produced agarwood resin in A. beccariana with a grade similar to the wild agarwood
Correlation Between the Color Lightness and Sweetness of Stingless Bee Honey with Its Minerals Content
No full textThe colour and the sweetness of honey are the main characteristics refers by consumers when buying honey for their consumption. Consumers always believe that the darker the colour and the sweeter the taste, the better the quality of honey. This study aims to investigate the correlation of colour lightness and the sweetness of stingless bee honey with its mineral contents. Honey samples were collected from seven beehives around Terengganu, Malaysia. All samples have different colours and tastes. The colour of honey was measured based on CIELAB colour system using a reflectance spectrometry and the sweetness of honey is measured using a refractometer. ICP-OES is used to analyze mineral elements present in the honey samples. We found that the lighter the colour of honey, the less sweet it is (r= -0.77). The results obtained also shows that the lighter the colour of honey, the higher the amount of potassium (r= -0.94) and phosphorus (r= -0.94) in honey. Meanwhile, the sweeter the honey, the higher the amount of potassium (r= 0.87), sodium (r= 0.85) and phosphorus (r= 0.82). Our findings prove that the colour and sweetness of honey can only be used to estimate the certain nutritive value of honey. Even though these findings still cannot fully uncover the myth of honey; consumers still can depend on these characteristics to choose the best honey for their own consumption
Effects of Sous-vide Cooking on the Initial Yield, Peak Force, and Elastic Modulus of Cooked Beef Semitendinosus
Get PDFThe objective of this study was to compare the traditional cooking method with sous-vide cooking at various cooking temperatures and times on the initial yield, peak force, and elastic modulus of semitendinosus (ST) beef. This study also examined the colour properties, cooking loss, and water retention of ST beef. Sous-vide samples were cooked inside vacuumized pouches at temperatures 60, 70, and 80 ℃ for 3 and 6 h. Meanwhile, the traditional cooking method was treated at 90℃ for 30 min. Reduced the initial yield, peak force, and elastic modulus of ST beef could be attained in 6 h at 60 ℃. Higher temperature and prolonged cooking time seem to cause meat to be tougher, likely due to the longitudinal myofibrils shrank. In terms of water retention and cooking loss, sous-vide cooked at 60 °C (regardless of cooking time) significantly exhibited better water retention and lower cook loss. This mild cooking temperature also best preserved the colour properties of lightness (L*) and redness (a*) than the other treatments
Evaluation of Varietal Performance for Yield and Yield Contributing Attributes of Local Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) Germplasm Collections
Get PDFBrinjal is the second most important vegetable crop after Tomato in relation to its total production. Better production from any crop can only be achieved from a better variety. But in most cases the producers especially the rural farmers are not aware about the selection of high yielding varieties. Without any justification they just buy those seeds are easily available in nearby shops resulting harvest a poor yield with very unsatisfactory return. In this regard five different brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) germplasm collections were evaluated for their major yield and yield contributing attributes along with total chlorophyll content as physiological parameter. The study was conducted in rain shelter 10, at the Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, arranged in Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with five replications. Research findings revealed significant variations for all the measured parameters among different brinjal cultivars. Round purple brinjal (V1=Mte2) had the highest fruit weight (238.60g; which is about 88.14% increased fruit weight over V4), followed by long red purple brinjal (V2=H117) with 167.50g (about 83.10% increased fruit weight over V4), long green brinjal (V3=H249) with 119.70g (about 76.36% increased fruit weight over V4) and the lowest fruit weight (28.30g) was found in brinjal variety V4 (Telunjuk), respectively. On the other hand red purple brinjal (V2) was the longest (24.23 cm) in size with 5.60 cm in diameter, but the highest fruit diameter (12.24 cm) was recorded in V3 brinjal. Long red purple brinjal (V2) showed the shortest days to 50% flowering with 49 days compared to Kermit brinjal (V5) which took the longest 61 days to 50% flowering. The highest total leaf chlorophyll content was detected in V5 (51.02 nmol/mg) while the lowest (44.06 nmol/mg) was in V3. From the correlation analysis significant correlation were detected among days to 1st flowering and days to 50% flowering; plant height and fruit diameter, while significant but negative correlation was seen among numbers of leaves and fruit diameter; plant height and fruit weight with chlorophyll content. From the cluster analysis primarily; V1, V2, and V3 were grouped into one cluster while V4 and V5 into another clusters, while in secondary clustering V1 alone in one group, V2 and V3 in 2nd group and finally V4 and V5 were in third groups which indicated a significant diversity among cultivars. On an average; considering varietal performance for yield and yield contributing attributes of five (5) different brinjal cultivars, it was revealed that the fruits of V1 gained the highest weight, while the fruits of V2 had the highest length and the fruits of V3 gained the highest diameter. Regarding earliness; variety V2 was the earliest among all 5 varieties, which is one of the desirable characteristics for any crops; especially in vegetables
Honey and Children: The Effect of Honey from Apis cerana Bees on Children’ Nutritional Status in East Nusa Tenggara - Indonesia
Get PDFThis study aims to examine the effect of honey from Apis cerana bee colonies on nutritional status in children aged two to five years old in the working area of ​​Mok Community Health Center, Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara - Indonesia. The study was conducted in May - June 2018, with quasi-experiment design with pre and post test in one group. The sample in this study amounted to 35 children under five years old, with malnutritional status. Nutritional status is determined by the weight-for-age. The used honey was honey from the A. cerana bee colonies harvested in Manggarai Regency. Honey was consumed by children as much as 5 mL, twice a day, morning and evening, for 8 weeks. Nutritional status measurements were taken at 0 weeks, 4 weeks and 8 weeks before and after honey consumed regularly. Post-Hoc data analysis using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. The results showed a significant increase in children's nutritional status at week 4 and week 8. The percentage of children with malnutritional status after being given honey A. cerana regularly for 4 weeks fell to 57% and good nutrition increased to 43%. Meanwhile, after 8 weeks of honey, the malnutritional status has decreased to 31%, and vice versa 69% of children have increased their nutritional status to good nutrition. The results of a comparative test of increasing nutritional status between 4 and 8 weeks showed that there was a significant difference between improving the nutritional status of children under five years old who consumed honey for 4 weeks and for 8 weeks. The research shows the length of time consumed A. cerana honey regularly in children aged two to five years old, will have a positive effect to the nutritional status from poor to good nutritional status
Assessment of Semen Characteristics Among Three Phenotypes of Chicken Raised in Akko, Gombe State of Nigeria
Get PDFIn poultry breeding program the success of artificial insemination (AI) is highly influenced by the quality of semen. The aim of the present research was to evaluate the variations in semen characteristics of three phenotypes of chicken of the same specie raised in Akko, Nigeria. A total of 9 cocks from threedifferent phenotypes; Red feathered (n = 3), White feathered (n = 3) and Black feathered (n =3). The semen was evaluated for macroscopic (i.e. semen volume and colour) and microscopic (i.e. sperm concentration, motility and morphology) criteria after being collected by abdominal massage method. There were phenotypes variation (P > 0.05)effects on semen motility, number of live/dead sperm and sperm abnormalities. No differences(P>0.05) were observed on volume, colour, concentration, mass motility and pH of semen. The observed sperm progressive motility was ranged from 90.5 ±1.21% to 95.09±0.82%. The White feathered strain had the highest sperm progressive motility (P<0.05)and highest value for live and normal sperm (93.5±0.63% and 87.90±0.25%), while the black feathered had the least and (92.4±0.73% and 85.5±0.50%) respectively. The Red feathered strain had the highest value for both dead and sperm head defect (9.2±0.33%and 7.0±0.52%). Whilst, the Black feathered strain scored the highest percentage of both sperm tail and neck defects with values ranged from 11.4±0.43%to 14.2±1.08% and 19.4±0.53% to 23.6±0.69%, respectively. This study suggests that there are large variations present in semen characteristics of different phenotypes of cocks; White feathered strain is likely have better semen characteristics compared to Red and Black feathered strains. Therefore, White feathered strain can potentially be used in artificial insemination (AI) for chicken production and improvement
The impact of (Canarium Odontophyllum Miq.) Dabai Optimum Soaking Condition Towards the Development of Dabai Peanut Spread Physicochemical Properties and Sensory Evaluation
Get PDFCanarium odontophyllum miq. also known as dabai is known as Sarawak indigenous fruit and utilised for dabai peanut spread formulation. Dabai is physically hard in texture and consumed by soaking under heat treatment. Therefore, dabai optimum soaking condition is determined followed by the development of dabai peanut spread. The determination of soaking condition requires: soaking time (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12) mins and soaking temperature (50°C, 60°C, 70°C and 80°C) as independent variables, and (water absorption, crude protein content, crude fat content, moisture content, ash content and colour) as dependent variables. 50°C for 4 minutes is the optimum dabai soaking condition, and it is being utilised for dabai peanut spread formulation. There were six different formulations with different ratios of soaked dabai and roasted peanut, and further underwent proximate analyses and sensory evaluation test. The combination of a low amount of soaked dabai (40 g) with a high amount of roasted peanut (160 g) has produced a high amount of crude protein (10.65%) and crude fat (35.95%) and was found significantly (p<0.05) acceptable by the panellists. The information obtained provides a better understanding of dabai as a potential food product ingredient
Factors Influencing Customer Loyalty towards McDonald’s Restaurant in Kuala Terengganu
Get PDFCustomer loyalty has become an important role in ensuring successful businesses in this highly competitive market. Thus, there is a need for McDonald’s management to creating loyal customers in order to maintain their sustainability in the market. The purpose of this study is to measure the relationship of the demographic variable with customer loyalty and also to measure the significant relationship of food quality, physical environment, price and value, and also convenience with customer loyalty in McDonald’s restaurant in Kuala Terengganu. Convenience sampling was used to distribute the questionnaire from 120 respondents through social media platforms via WhatsApp and Facebook. The data then were analysed by using Statistical Package of Social Science version 23 to carry out the test from descriptive analysis, cross-tabulation, and multiple linear regression. This study reveals that age, ethnics, education, and income have a significant relationship with customer loyalty on behalf of demographic variables. Meanwhile, on behalf of independent variables, convenience and food quality has a positive relationship with customer loyalty. So, we can say that food quality and convenience factors have the highest influence on customer’s loyalty. Thus, McDonald’s restaurant should find the strategies on how to improve themselves in that factor such as provide a big size of chicken or a convenience drive thru. It is pretty sure can make customers more comfortable to revisit the restaurants
Impact of Using Alternative Sweetener as Osmotic Agent on Mass Transfer, Colour and Texture Properties During Dip Dehydration of Apple Slice
Get PDFPrevious study has explored dip dehydration as a novel variant of osmotic dehydration to reduce solid gain, which is the main problem of osmotic dehydration. However, this dehydration process commonly uses sucrose solution as osmotic agent which might contribute to the increase in glycaemic index and can also be linked to different diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of using alternative sweeteners as an osmotic agent on mass transfer, colour, and texture profiles during dip dehydration of apple slices. Three alternative sweeteners, i.e., erythritol, sorbitol and xylitol with 30% (w/v) concentration were used in this study. Apple slices with 1.5 mm thickness and diameter of 55 mm were dipped multiple time in the same concentrated solution every 40 minutes until 200 minutes before samples were analysed. Findings showed that different type of sweetener affect water loss and solid gain. Xylitol and sorbitol gave highest water loss about 36% and 40%, respectively. Lowest total colour different with fresh apple has been observed in sample treated with xylitol. As for texture, there is no remarkable effect of using alternative sweetener as osmotic agent at all processing times. Overall, the best alternative sweetener for sucrose is xylitol considering the mass transfer and quality of apple slices