14 research outputs found
Benarkah pengambilan ketum memudaratkan kesihatan?
No full textPENTING untuk pengguna dan pihak berkuasa mendekati ketum dengan penuh berhati-hati untuk mengetahui sifatnya yang boleh menjadi penyembuh atau racun.
Oleh Awis Sukarni Mohmad Sabere dan Muhamad Faris Osman
16 Januari 2025, 8:00 am
DAUN ketum digunakan sejak zaman dahulu oleh penduduk di Thailand, Indonesia dan Malaysia. Secara tradisional, pengambilan daun ketum mampu meningkatkan tenaga bagi menjalankan kerja-kerja harian dan memelihara kesihatan secara umum.
Sejak beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini, ketum menarik perhatian masyarakat tempatan dan antarabangsa kerana penggunaannya berkembang daripada sekadar ubat herba tradisional kepada rawatan alternatif untuk masalah ketagihan dadah sintetik seperti morfin dan heroin.
Ada yang berpendapat pengambilan daun ketum selamat dan tidak perlu diwujudkan peraturan tertentu bagi mengawal penggunaannya.
Sebaliknya, ada juga yang memberikan pandangan lain. Oleh sebab daun ketum boleh berfungsi sebagai pengganti dadah sintetik, ia juga berpotensi untuk menyebabkan ketagihan yang dikenali sebagai ketagihan air daun ketum. Ia dikhuatiri boleh membawa mudarat kepada kesejahteraan kualiti hidup dan produktiviti individu, masyarakat dan negara
Mud Weight Prediction for Offshore Drilling
No full textSelecting a proper mud-weight during drilling is important to prevent
wellbore breakout. Through development of computer software, the optimum range
of mud-weight can be computed by trial-and-error using finite element elasto-plastic
model. Even though the results are very accurate and precise, inherited parameter
uncertainties associated with the vertical to horizontal earth stress ratios, fracgradients,
Coulomb friction angle and cohesion means the precision attained in such
software is meaningless and could be misleading to field engineers working on site.
An even more pressing problem to the drilling manager is that these software are too
specialist oriented and required input parameters that are not available practically in
a day-to-day operation to make in-situ decision. The idea behind this project is to
propose a new workflow of mud-weight prediction that does not require a precise
input of parameters and develop a simple prototype lab-version program that could
be used in-house
Phenolics and flavonoids content determination and in-vitro antioxidant evaluation for radical scavenging activity of extracts from Dialium indum var. indum L. fruits
No full textPhenolic compounds are the largest group of phytochemicals, which have been studied to account for most plants antioxidant activity while flavonoids are the largest group of plants phenolics. High phenolics, flavonoids, saponins, and tannins content have been linked to the high antioxidant activity of plant extracts. Intake of plants with high phenolics content is linked with reduced risk for chronic disease. Dialium indum or black velvet tamarind is known by Malaysians and Indonesians as keranji which is sold at local markets as sweets. This study was conducted to investigate the total phenolics and flavonoids content and in-vitro DPPH radical scavenging activity of D. indum var. indum L. fruits. Samples (mesocarp, pericarp, and seed of fruits) were extracted by using cold maceration with distilled water heated to 40 °C for 1 hour and then frozen at -80 °C. All samples were then freeze-dried. For direct methanolic extract, all samples were cold macerated in methanol, filtered, then dried by using rotary evaporator at 40 °C. For consecutive organic solvents extraction, the same procedure for direct methanol extraction was used but all samples were cold macerated in n- hexane, dichloromethane, and methanol consecutively. The total phenolic (TPC) was determined using gallic acid standard curve while total flavonoid content (TFC) was determined using quercetin standard curve. Results were expressed as mg quercetin equivalence (QE) per gram of extract ± SEM. DPPH radical scavenging activity was employed to determine the percentage of inhibition of DPPH radical and IC50 were calculated. The results were compared with the standard ascorbic acid. Data were statistically analyzed using Analysis Toolpak, Microsoft Excel 2013. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson correlation coefficient was determined and the significant difference was set at p < 0.05. Fractionated methanolic seed extract of the fruits contained highest amount of phenolics (93.51 mg GAE/g dry extract), followed by direct methanolic seed extract (59.95 mg GAE/g dry extract), and fractionated dichloromethane pericarp extract (43.26 mg GAE/g dry extract). Total flavonoids contents of the extracts showed that the fractionated dichloromethane pericarp extract had the highest amount of flavonoids (9.18 mg QE/g dry extract). A moderate positive correlation (r = 0.46) was obtained between total phenolics and total flavonoids content for all extracts tested. IC50 of fractionated dichloromethane pericarp extract was found to be 71.28 μg/mL while the standard ascorbic acid had IC50 of 1.44 μg/mL. There was significant difference (p < 0.05) in percent of DPPH radical inhibition at highest concentration tested (1000 μg/mL) between fractionated dichloromethane pericarp extract and the standard ascorbic acid. This study showed that the fractionated dichloromethane extract of D. indum var. indum L. fruit pericarp had positive results for flavonoids and DPPH radical scavenging activity. The results indicated that the flavonoids with antioxidant activity were semipolar in nature. This study acknowledged the in-vitro antioxidant properties of D. indum fruit pericarp; thus, indicated that this underutilized fruit has potential utilization in future natural products
Antioxidant Activities of <i>Dialium indum</i> L. Fruit and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) of the Active Fractions
No full textThe fruit of Dialium indum L. (Fabaceae) is one of the edible wild fruits native to Southeast Asia. The mesocarp is consumed as sweets while the exocarp and seed are regarded as waste. This study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activities of the fruit by using four assays, which measure its capabilities in reducing phosphomolybdic-phosphotungstic acid reagents, neocuproine, 2,2-diphenyl-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and inhibiting linoleic acid peroxidation. The active fractions were then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed that the seed methanol fraction (SMF) exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity with significantly higher (p < 0.05) gallic acid equivalence (GAE), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and DPPH radical scavenging activity (IC50 31.71; 0.88 µg/mL) than the other fractions. The exocarp dichloromethane fraction (EDF) was the discriminating fraction by having remarkable linoleic acid peroxidation inhibition (IC50 121.43; 2.97 µg/mL). A total of thirty-eight metabolites were detected in derivatized EDF and SMF with distinctive classes of phenolics and amino acids, respectively. Bioautography-guided fractionation of EDF afforded five antioxidant-enriched subfractions with four other detected phenolics. The results revealed the antioxidant properties of D. indum fruit, which has potential benefits in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and cosmeceutical applications
Housing affordability index for Districts in Perak
No full textHousing Affordability is one of the major concerns for the State Government of Perak. Affordable housing is important as it has become an absolute necessity of residents especially for B40 income households’ population in Perak. In Perak, the soaring house prices have made it almost impossible for the middle income group to afford a home. The drastic changes in housing prices have affected the affordability levels in Perak. This study compares household in come against housing prices in each district in Perak. The data were collected from secondary sources and content analysis were undertaken to identify housing affordability in Perak. Housing Affordability Index was subsequently generated. Based on the Index, it is found that housing affordability for each district in Perak at severely unaffordable level. The findings of this study can be used to aid the state government in their endeavours to provide quality affordable housing for Perakian
Apakah jenis subjek dan gaya yang telah dibincangkan dalam fatwa dan faris panduan Islam? / Ishak Ramli ... [et al.]
No full textSeni visual antara topik yang hangat dan kritikal yang dibincangkan dari perspektif Islam. Hal ini kerana wujud olahan subjek yang dipilih dilukis dengan pelbagai
kaedah dan cara. Selain itu, gaya yang dipamerkan juga menimbulkan persoalan tentang hukum dan pandangan yang tidak jelas terhadapnya. Secara jelas, tiada perbincangan komprehensif yang dijalankan melibatkan kepelbagaian subjek dan gaya dalam seni visual berdasarkan perkembangan semasa. Oleh yang demikian,
kertas kerja ini bermatlamat untuk meniliti dengan terperinci apakah jenis subjek dan gaya yang telah dibincangkan dalam fatwa dan garis panduan yang telah wujud. Berdasarkan kaedah penyusunan sorotan kajian berstruktur dan sistematik, kesemua fatwa dan garis panduan yang berkaitan dengan seni visual dikenalpasti.
Berdasarkan pemerhatian tersebut, hasilnya, hanya terdapat beberapa jenis subjek sahaja yang telah dibincangkan iaitu manusia, haiwan, tumbuhan, simbol agama dan peralatan ciptaan manusia; dan gaya yang dibincangkan secara keseluruhan hanyalah pada jenis representasi sahaja. Cadangan kepada penyelidik yang berminat dengan kajian ini haruslah menjalankan penyelidikan secara terperinci dengan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif
Evaluation of antioxidant activities of various extracts from Dialium indium var. indium L. fruits
No full textDialium indum var. indum L. (family Fabaceae) or keranji is a wild plant native to Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, the fruit has gained its popularity through its inclusion in a traditional Malay poem, namely pantun. To date however, the fruit of D. indum is considered as underutilized because its use is limited to consumption as seasonal sweets by the locals. Hence, this study aimed to determine the antioxidant activities of various extracts of exocarp, mesocarp, and seed of D. indum fruit by using cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) and linoleic acid peroxidation inhibition assays. The results indicated that the seed consecutive methanol (SCM) extract had highest reducing power (1515.78 ± 75.86 µmol Trolox Equivalent (TE)/g dry extract). However, exocarp consecutive hexane (ECH) extract possessed highest anti-lipid-peroxidation (IC50 102.63 ± 5.15 µg/mL), comparable to the standard quercetin (IC50 43.73 ± 2.59 µg/mL). The results indicated that the seed possessed highest total antioxidant capacity while the lipid-soluble antioxidants were concentrated mostly in the exocarp. This study evidenced that the seed and exocarp of D. indum fruit are good sources of antioxidants, which are useful properties in protection of macromolecules in the body against deleterious effects of oxidative stress
UHPLC-UV/PDA Method Validation for Simultaneous Quantification of Luteolin and Apigenin Derivatives from <i>Elaeis guineensis</i> Leaf Extracts: An Application for Antioxidant Herbal Preparation
No full textLuteolin and apigenin derivatives present in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) leaves (OPL) are reported to possess excellent antioxidant properties relating to numerous health benefits. To meet the global demand for flavonoids, OPL, which is plentifully generated as an agricultural by-product from oil palm plantations, can be further exploited as a new source of natural antioxidant compounds. However, to produce a standardized herbal preparation, validation of the quantification method for these compounds is required. Therefore, in this investigation, we developed and validated an improved and rapid analytical method, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with ultraviolet/photodiode array (UHPLC-UV/PDA) for the quantification of 12 luteolin and apigenin derivatives, particularly focusing on flavonoid isomeric pairs: orientin/isoorientin and vitexin/isovitexin, present in various OPL extracts. Several validation parameters were assessed, resulting in the UHPLC-UV/PDA technique offering good specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, and robustness, where the values were within acceptable limits. Subsequently, the validated method was employed to quantify luteolin and apigenin derivatives from OPL subjected to different drying treatments and extraction with various solvent systems, giving total luteolin (TLC) and apigenin content (TAC) in the range of 2.04–56.30 and 1.84–160.38 µg/mg extract, respectively. Additionally, partial least square (PLS) analysis disclosed the combination of freeze dry-aqueous methanol yielded OPL extracts with high TLC and TAC, which are strongly correlated with antioxidant activity. Therefore, we provide the first validation report of the UHPLC-UV/PDA method for quantification of luteolin and apigenin derivatives present in various OPL extracts, suggesting that this approach could be employed in standardized herbal preparations by adopting orientin, isoorientin, vitexin, and isovitexin as chemical markers
Shedding light on Piper’s identity via computational mass spectrometry
No full textMorphological characteristics of Piper rubro-venosum hort. ex Rodigas bear a close resemblance to a plant identified as Piper crocatum Ruiz & Pav. in the literature. Hence, this study aimed to investigate whether both names describe the same species using data-dependent acquisition (DDA) LC-MS/MS analysis of methanol leaf extracts of P. rubro-venosum in positive and negative electrospray ionization modes. The data were analyzed using two computational mass spectrometry methods: spectral libraries search implemented in Global Natural Product Social (GNPS) molecular networking and molecular structure databases search implemented in SIRIUS. Classical molecular networking implied that the metabolites giving rise to two features with the highest intensities in the positive ionization chromatograms had distinct MS/MS spectra. De novo molecular formula annotations and machine learning predictions in SIRIUS suggested that both features were sodiated precursor ions of neolignans. Based on the accurate mass of the precursor ions, the two features were annotated as crocatin A and B, which are bicyclooctanoid neolignans previously isolated in relatively large amounts from P. crocatum leaves. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that P. crocatum and P. rubro-venosum could be two names in the literature used to refer to one species of Piper
Metabolomics-driven discovery of an introduced species and two malaysian Piper betle L. Variants
No full textThe differences in pungency of “sirih” imply the probable occurrence of several variants of Piper betle L. in Malaysia. However, the metabolite profiles underlying the pungency of the different variants remain a subject of further research. The differences in metabolite profiles of selected Malaysian P. betle variants were thus investigated; specifically, the leaf aqueous methanolic extracts and essential oils were analyzed via 1H-NMR and GC-MS metabolomics, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the 1H-NMR spectral data showed quantitative differences in the metabolite profiles of “sirih melayu” and “sirih india” and revealed an ambiguous group of samples with low acetic acid content, which was identified as Piper rubro-venosum hort. ex Rodigas based on DNA sequences of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region. The finding was supported by PCA of two GC-MS datasets of P. betle samples obtained from several states in Peninsular Malaysia, which displayed clustering of the samples into “sirih melayu” and “sirih india” groups. Higher abundance of chavicol acetate was consistently found to be characteristic of “sirih melayu”. The present research has provided preliminary evidence supporting the notion of occurrence of two P. betle variants in Malaysia based on chemical profiles, which may be related to the different genders of P. betle
