Seri Intan Mokhtar

Diversity and conservation status of mammals in Wang Kelian State Park, Perlis, Malaysia

A series of surveys in Wang Kelian State Park, Perlis were carried out since 2009 to 2011 to document the diversity of mammals. Two sampling stations; 1) the Wang Burma cave trail and 2) the Orchard leading to Tasik Meranti were sampled for small mammals using mist-nets, harp traps, cage traps and were accounted through direct observation. The highlight of this study includes new geographic records for Rhinolophus chiewkweeae and Rousettus leschenaultii for the state of Perlis. Additionally, there were also 30 new distributional records of mammals in this protected area, increasing the total known mammals of Wang Kelian State Park to 86 species. Although having poorly known mammals such as R. chiewkweeae and Macaca arctoides in this park, the diversity of mammals in Wang Kelian State Park is still underestimated as the species cumulative curve over time has yet to reach a stationary phase. In conclusion more surveys need to be done especially the northern part of the park near the Malaysia-Thailand border and Tasik Meranti in order to look at possible occurrences of threatened mammals highlighted in this study.

Study on the Customer Perception of the Tropical Fruit Vinegar in Kelantan and Kuala Lumpur

ABSTRACT This research will be focus on the differences of perception of customers in Kelantan and Kuala Lumpur toward tropical fruits vinegar. Tropical fruit vinegar was used in this research with Rambutan and Dokong vinegar as the choice. Dokong and Rambutan are tropical seasonal fruits. The production quantity is getting higher these few years, and it results that farmers have to face all negative impact. Next, this study also reduces the import of vinegar product. Furthermore, this study also helps in fulfilling the national agenda in National Agro Food Policies 2011–2020. The amount of respondents are 108 in Kelantan and 69 in Kuala Lumpur. The major finding is Customers in Kuala Lumpur and Kelantan both accepts Natural Fruits Vinegar products. The result also shows that consumers are concern about the quality, safety, and nutritional content of products and prefer glass material for packaging than plastic material.

Antimicrobial Properties of Averrhoa bilimbi Extracts at DifferentMaturity Stages

In the present study, the water extracts of Averrhoa bilimbi at different maturity stages were evaluated to investigate antimicrobial activity against two Gram positive and three Gram negative bacteria by disc diffusion and broth dilution assays. All of the bacterial isolates showed varying degrees of sensitivity towards A. bilimbi extracts. For disc diffusion assay, Gram positive bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus was more sensitive to the extract than Bacillus cereus with inhibition zone of 9.3 mm (young fruit), 12.3 mm (mature fruit) and 10 mm (ripe fruit). The findings also demonstrated that the extracts have stronger antimicrobial effects against Gram negative bacteria, Salmonella spp. with inhibition zone of 12 mm at young fruit, 11 mm at mature fruit and 9.3 mm at ripe fruit than Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. From broth dilution method, the MIC of extracts were 0.125 gml-1 at young stage, 0.25 gml-1 at mature stage and 0.5 gml-1 at ripe stage against Escherichia coli while 0.25 gml-1 at either young or ripe stage and 0.125 gml-1 at mature stage for S. aureus. The results suggested that the antimicrobial properties are influenced by the maturity stages of the fruit especially at early stage of maturity.