Rashidi Othman

Production of Cysteine: Approaches, Challenges and Potential Solution

Cysteine has a wide application in pharmaceutical, foods and cosmetic industries. In the biological system, through its unique properties of sulfur and thiol, cysteine also plays important roles in stability, structure, catalytic activity, and regulation of numerous proteins. In nature, cysteine can be found in animal proteins, fruits, vegetables, legumes and cereal. Due to its wide application, the production of cysteine in large scale is in favour. At present, cysteine is produced from keratin of animal sources as well as through microbial bioconversion and fermentation. Each production method poses its own challenges and limitation; which includes low yield, high-cost and poor consumer acceptance. As such, alternative source for large-scale cysteine production is of interest. Plants are seen to be an attractive substrate for the extraction of cysteine.

Effects of NAA and BAP, Double-Layered Media, and Light Distance on In Vitro Regeneration of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. (Lotus), an Aquatic Edible Plant

In vitro direct regeneration of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. was successfully achieved from immature explants (yellow plumule) cultured on a solid MS media supplemented with combinations of 0.5 mg/L BAP and 1.5 mg/L NAA which resulted in 16.00 ± 0.30 number of shoots per explant and exhibited a new characteristic of layered multiple shoots, while normal roots formed on the solid MS basal media. The double-layered media gave the highest number of shoots per explant with a ratio of 2 : 1 (liquid to solid) with a mean number of 16.67 ± 0.23 shoots per explant with the formation of primary and secondary roots from immature explants. In the study involving light distance, the tallest shoot (16.67 ± 0.23 mm) obtained from the immature explants was at a light distance of 200 mm from the source of inflorescent light (1000 lux). The plantlets were successfully acclimatized in clay loam soil after 8 months being maintained under in vitro conditions.

Extraction of Glucose from Kenaf Core Using Mild Acid Treatment

Recently, many industries are aiming to reduce the usage of petroleum-based products and synthetic fibres due to increased environmental concerns regarding such materials. This has led to extensive research on natural fibres with the goal of producing eco-friendly products that will replace the existing petroleum-based ones. Natural fibres can be derived from many sources such as plants, animals, or minerals. However, plant fibres, such as kenaf, are more desirable to most researchers. Kenaf, scientifically known as Hibiscus cannabinus. L, has a complex structure because it consists of lignin, cellulose, and hemicelluloses. Due to this reason, kenaf needs to undergo a treatment process in order to remove lignin and hemicellulose, reduce the crystallinity of its constituent cellulose, and increase its porosity. In this study, acid treatment method was employed and the influence of several process parameters, such as temperature and time, for achieving high yield of glucose conversion was studied. The highest substantial glucose yield was 3.4 g/L produced at 200 °C after 60 min.

Evaluation of Maximum Percentage Glucose Conversion for Dilute Acid Hydrolysis of Kenaf Biomass Using Statistical Analysis

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus.L) is a crop- that produces about 70% of biomass larger than any of forest plantations. There is no specific way of using kenaf biomass in industry instead for animal feed and burning in various forms (waste in general). As a result, several researches had been conducted to utilize it in the production of biodegradable polymer as well as bioethanol. This is due to its complex cellulose content that is useful to be converted into glucose before further process. The conversion step from cellulose content of kenaf biomass into glucose is known as pre-treatment process. In this paper, dilute acid hydrolysis was chosen as the pre-treatment process. With the aim to evaluate the maximum percentage of glucose conversion for this kind of pre-treatment process from kenaf biomass, statistical analysis which is analysis of variance (ANOVA) design via central composite design using response surface method (RSM) was selected. Thus, the lower the mass which is at 2 g, and at higher temperature which is 180 oC in longer time which is in 60 min results about 25.33% glucose conversion with the comparison of the predicted value obtained from the experimental design.

Comparison between high-pressure processing and chemical extraction: Astaxanthin yield from six species of shrimp carapace

ABSTRACT Astaxanthin is one of the main carotenoid pigments. It has beneficial effects on the immune system of the human body due to its powerful antioxidant properties. The application of this bioactive compound can be found to be significant in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries. The aim of this research was to investigate astaxanthin yield from six species of Malaysian shrimp carapace. Six types of shrimp species—Parapenaeopsis sculptili, Metapenaeus lysianassa, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, Metapenaeopsis hardwickii, Penaeus merguiensis, and Penaeus monodon—were used to investigate total carotenoid content and astaxanthin yield. The investigation was carried out using chemical extraction and high-pressure processing (HPP) methods at 210 MPa, for a period of 10 min with a solvent mixture of acetone and methanol (7:3, v/v). HPP was proven to have a significant impact in increasing the total carotenoid content and astaxanthin yield. The highest total carotenoid content and astaxanthin yield is shown to be contained in the Penaeus monodon species. Total carotenoid was increased from 46.95 µg/ml using chemical extraction to 68.26 µg/ml using HPP; yield of astaxanthin was increased from 29.44 µg/gdw using chemical extraction to 59.9744 µg/gdw using HPP. Therefore, comparison between the HPP and chemical extraction methods showed that HPP is more advantageous with higher astaxanthin yield, higher quality, and shorter extraction time.

Characterization on Surface Modification of Kenaf Biomass via Microbial Fermentation

Kenaf is categorized as one of the natural fibre which is used as replacement to man-made fibre due to its various advantages. It is a natural fibre of low density, low cost, recyclable and biodegradable. This paper presents the surface modification of kenaf biomass in terms of its morphology, chemical properties and crystallinity, as observed under scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Peak at 1600 cm-1 to 1200 cm-1 FTIR shows the disappearance of lignin in the treated kenaf. On the other hand, crystallinity indexes (CI) for untreated and treated kenaf are determined by XRD that show 83.3 % and 67.7 % accordingly.

Bioenergy from Gloeophyllum -Rhizopus Fungal Biofuel Cell

Fungal biofuel cell comprising of liquid culture suspension of Gloeophyllum and Rhizopus fungal strains is studied. Gloeophyllum liquid culture forms the anolyte of the microbial fuel cell (MFC) while Rhizopus liquid culture which forms the catholyte. Bioenergy is harvested from biocatalytic redox reactions of glucose/oxygen as a result of metabolic activities of respective fungi. Pyranose-2-oxidase of Gloeophyllum catalyzes oxidation of glucose, whereas laccase produced by Rhizopus catalyzes oxygen reduction. Upon incubation period of 8 days, the Gloeophyllum-Rhizopus MFC is capable to deliver 5 mW of power output continuously for 21 days under uncontrolled, open ambient surroundings. MFC with such performance characteristics is sufficed to power remote sensing devices.

Microstructure and Electrical Properties of AZO Films Prepared by RF Magnetron Sputtering

AZO is an ideal replacement transparent conducting oxide (TCO) for ITO to all corresponding applications. The typical applications include: transparent electrodes for solar cells, flat panel displays, LCD electrodes, electro-magnetic compatibility (RF-EMI shielding) coatings, touch panel transparent contacts, static discharge dissipation. The production of useful and commercially attractive thin films using different deposition processes is very important parameter to investigate. A systematic study of the sputtering condition and their influenced on electrical and structural were studied. In this work, AZO films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering at 200 °C. The result shows that the deposited time has influenced the characteristic of deposited AZO films. For a longer deposition time, thin film shows a uniform grain growth. The resistivity found minimum at the deposition time of 45 minutes. It can be considered that by reducing of the grain boundaries which enable the electron carries to conduct smoothly.

Phycoremediation: Islamic Value System Toward Environmental Sustainability

Phycoremediation offers an effective way for wastewater treatments, because they provide a tertiary biotreatment coupled with the production of potentially valuable biomass, which can be used for several purposes. Phycoremediation offers a favorable solution to tertiary treatments due to the ability of microalgae to use inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus for their growth. Indeed, for their capacity to remove heavy metals, as well as some toxic organic compounds does not lead to secondary pollution. The present research was attempted to reduce the heavy metal pollutants from the mixture of artificial wastewater samples using cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). It expresses less harm to human, animal, and plant health, as well as damage to the world as parallel with the objective of Maqasid Syariah, to preserve and protect life (nafs). The research was conducted by developing two phases which were algae culturing and phycoremediation model system. Pseudanabaena and Synechococcus were cultivated in Bold’s Basal medium in optimum condition. Three mixture of different heavy metals (Pb, Fe, Cr, Cd, Al, and Cu) were tested. The treatments were run at three concentration of heavy metals, 1, 2, and 3 mg/L for 4 weeks in the treatment room, which every week the samples were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP). The result of present investigation clearly indicated that Synechococcus was highly efficient for removal of Pb > Cr > Fe > Cu > Al > Cd respectively compared to Pseudanabaena. Amongst the selected algae, Synechococcus was a great candidate as good accumulator It was concluded that the cyanobacteria were the best alternative for phycoremediation.

Technical Review on Vinegar Fermentation Process and Physiochemical Properties of Vinegar Product Based on Shariah and Scientific Perspectives

In recent years, the world has begun to understand the importance of halal food and other edible products for Muslims. The market for certified halal food products is flourishing, both domestically and internationally. It is the duty of every Muslim to ensure that what they consume is produced from halal sources. Issues on the permissible amount of alcohol content in halal vinegar were raised since vinegar is considered a halal fermented product for consumption. In Islam, alcohol is produced from several fruits through the process of fermentation such as takhammur (wine making) and takhallul (vinegar making). Every country has their own standard in determining the permissible alcohol content to be considered halal. The maximum alcohol level for Halal standards in ASEAN countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand is only 1%, while in Singapore, the benchmarked level is at 0.5%. Other countries like Brunei, Canada and the United Kingdom prohibits the presence of alcohol in their halal food. This paper is a review about the literature relating to the halal vinegar understanding according to Shariah and scientific perspectives, physiochemical properties of commercial vinegar content based on previous studies by other researchers, as well as the changes of alcohol and acetic acid content during fermentation stages in vinegar making. Basic physiochemical requirements will be highlighted such as alcohol content, total acidity (TA) for acetic acid content, total solubility (TS) and pH. This study proposed the integration of methodology between Shariah and scientific perspectives to identify the permissible level for Halal vinegar and to expand the existing literature by conducting a profiling study on permissible vinegar according to Islamic Law.