19 research outputs found
Electrolyzed water as a sustainable cleaning and disinfection chemical for SMEs Malaysian meat processing food industries: Challenges and uncertainties
No full textThe cleaning and disinfection are also known as sanitation
process and it is a prerequisite for most of food safety standards.
Sanitation process is often neglected by industrialist due to it is
a plant downtime and incurs cost. Limited resources and
knowledge have prevented the implementation of effective
cleaning and sanitation process in the Small and Medium-sized
Enterprises (SMEs) food factories in Malaysia. The commercial
food-grade chemical which is expensive can be a burden for
SMEs food manufacturers. Hence some of the SMEs food
manufacturers have opted for non-food grade cleaning
chemicals (e.g., laundry detergent) to clean their food
processing equipment and factory environment. The non-food
grade chemical is less rinsible and can leave a fragrance. The
application of this non-food grade chemical not only caused
chemical contamination to food products but also on riverine.
The improper disposal of wastewater sourcing from the
Malaysian food industry is known to pose pollution problems
and violate environmental regulation. The odourless and
rinsible electrolyzed water (EW) is seen as a potential
alternative for the commercial cleaning and sanitation
detergents. Moreover, papers are claiming that there is no
wastewater treatment are needed when the EW is used as the
cleaning and disinfecting chemical
A review of non-destructive techniques applied for measuring quality of oil palm fresh fruit bunches
No full textThe quality of oil palm fruits is evaluated through several characteristics such as the ripeness
level, oil content, and free fatty acid. Besides human visual assessment and destructive
techniques, another alternative method that provides quality assessment on oil palm fresh
fruits bunches (FFB) is through the application of non-destructive techniques. A few of the
non-destructive techniques are covered in this review such as machine vision system, visible
or near infrared spectroscopy, image processing using relative entropy, fluorescence
technique, Kinect camera, and optical sensor system. The main quality parameter that is being
evaluated is the ripeness level of the FFB because the maturity of FFB has a direct impact on
the quality of the extracted oil that will eventually affect the economic value of palm oil
Effects of different low temperature storage conditions on the physico-chemical properties of Mastura (J37) jackfruit bulbs
No full textMastura (J37) jackfruit planted in Pahang (Malaysia) is less preferred by the consumers and
has caused backlog in the plantation as reported by Pahang State Farmers Association
(PASFA). In this study, the proposed solution given was to use vacuum packaging to pack the
bulbs and store them at 8-10?C (refrigerator) and -18?C (deep-freezer). After 3 weeks of
storage, deep-frozen vacuum-packed bulbs had lower ripening index (265) and microbial
count (6x102cfu/ml) when compared to refrigerated vacuum-packed bulbs which had higher
ripening index (629) and higher microbial count (52x102cfu/ml). The lightness, L* value of
vacuum-packed jackfruit bulb samples under deep-freeze storage was higher compared to the
ones under refrigeration storage. The output obtained from this work provides preliminary
data which are useful for Mastura (J37) jackfruit further downstream processing. These data
are helpful as they contribute towards the understanding of further processing of this
particular jackfruit variety into end products, in order to solve the issue faced by PASF
Characterisation of gelatin extracted from buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) bone using papain pre-treatment
No full textAssessment of evaporative cooling system potential for short-term storage management of vegetables during transportation
No full textCondition monitoring of TPU/UPM Fiat tractors using ICP and OES techniques
No full textThe use of agricultural tractors for various operations within a day calls for adoption of
condition monitoring techniques in maintenance management strategies especially regarding
engine lubricating oil change interval and predicting components replacement time before
premature failure. Six Fiat tractors from TPU/UPM were monitored over three oil change
intervals and oil samples taken for analysis using inductively coupled plasma and optical
emission spectroscopy (ICP & OES). Twenty-three elements including wearing elements from
engine, additive elements from oil manufacturers, and contaminating elements from the
environment were determined from 39 samples collected. Results indicated significant
differences for 15 elements (Al, B, Ca, Cr, Cu, Pb, Mg, Mo, P, Ti, V, Zn, Si, K, and Na) belonging
to wear, additive, and contaminating sources. This necessitated the use of condition
monitoring for individual tractors instead of the general rule of preventive maintenance or
even breakdown maintenance performed after the occurrence of failure
Pulp and paper production from oil palm empty fruit bunches: A current direction in Malaysia
No full textThe pulp and paper industry is advanced rapidly since there are many types of raw materials
containing cellulose fibres that could be used to produce different kinds of paper by different
methods in the mills. In Malaysia, one of the abundant non-wood materials for pulp and paper
production is empty fruit bunch (EFB) from the oil palm. The EFB is the main fibrous residue
and natural fibre which has promising potential as an alternative to replace woody materials.
This study provides insight into the use of EFB as an alternative non-wood fibre resource in
pulp and paper making. The potential of oil palm EFB transformed into valuable fibre material
was elaborated. In this review, detailed information on the properties of EFB for pulp and
paper making process to identify the chemical composition and fibre morphology were
discussed. Recent advanced applications including nanocellulose from EFB, polymeric
hydrogel, and antimicrobial papers were discussed to demonstrate high commercialization
for pulp and paper technology. The three-dimensional (3D) printing technique has been
employed due to the high complexity of paper products. The future trends and challenges
regarding the use of EFB in pulp and paper making were also reviewed. This study
demonstrated that the EFB has met the demand of the market chains as a potential raw
material in paper making and manufacturing
Optical imaging techniques for rice diseases detection: A review
No full textRice diseases have caused great economic losses to farmers in rice cultivation. The current assessment of rice disease evaluation still relies on manual, subjective, and laborious techniques. The manual and subjective evaluations lead to uncertainties since some diseases have almost similar characterisation. The applications of immunological, molecular, and microscope techniques are time-consuming, costly, and skills dependent. Thus, optical techniques are recommended to facilitate the control of diseases through their feasibility, rapidity, and accuracy, which can lead to better management strategies, besides improving production activity. These techniques for detecting and monitoring the diseases are important for precaution and prevention action. The present review discusses the existing and potential optical techniques for the detection of rice diseases. The techniques include optical imaging that consists of computer vision, spectroscopy, multispectral imaging, hyperspectral imaging (HSI), and remote sensing. Thus, this work presents in-depth information related to the non-destructive and potential applications of optical imaging techniques for rice disease detection
Colour evaluation of sterilized and unsterilized palm fruitlets mesocarp at different storage time
No full textColour has been widely used in agriculture application in order to indicate the different level of ripeness and freshness of fruits and food. In this study, the freshness of oil palm fruitlet was evaluated by measuring its colour using colorimeter. Two types of oil palm fruitlets were investigatedsterilized and unsterilized, and the fruitlets were exposed to the environment for three days. The measurement of colour (in terms of L*, a*, and b* values) was measured using Konica Colour Reader on an exposed surface that was cut to specific dimension. The individual parameters of L*, a*, b* colour systems were measured daily for three days. The findings revealed that the unsterilized fruitlet showed the most significant color change after three days which indicates that oxidation and deterioration of the freshness continues to occur. The sterilized fruitlet did not show any major difference of colour value which can be explained by the inhibition of enzyme activity by sterilization process that causes oxidation. This study has proven that colour can be used to evaluate the freshness and oxidation of oil palm fruitlets. The findings of this study will be useful for palm oil industry to develop a proper palm freshness evaluation system
