Yew Ai Tan

Crude palm oil characteristics and chlorophyll content.

The chlorophyll (CHL) content in palm oil extracted from oil palm fruits, Elaeis guineensis, at various stages of ripeness was determined. It was found that oils from ripe fruits of the same age contained different levels of CHL. In addition it was noted that fruits from palms planted at the centre and those at the edge of the field seemed to ripen at different rates. Those at the centre of the field contained higher levels of CHL when compared with those of the same age produced at the edge of the field. This phenomenon could be due to topographical effects whereby the palms at the edge of the field were exposed to much more sunlight. This probably hastened the process of fruit ripening. A survey on CHL levels in commercial CPO samples supplied by mills showed the presence of CHL in all samples analysed. The range observed was between 250 and 1800 μg kg−1 with a mean value of 930±107 μg kg−1. This implied wide variations in the ripeness of palm fruits processed by the mills. ©1997 SCI

Method Development for Determination of Fluroxypyr in Soil

Improved methods for extraction and clean up of fluroxypyr residue in water have been established. Two methods of fluroxypyr extraction were used, namely, Direct Measurement of fluroxypyr and Concentration of fluroxypyr onto A Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) Adsorbent, followed by elution with solvent before determination of fluroxypyr. The recovery for Direct Measurement of fluroxypyr in water containing 8–100 µg L− 1, ranged from 86 to 110% with relative standard deviation of 0.7 to 2.15%. For the second method, three types of SPE were used, viz. C18, C18 end‐capped and polyvinyl dibenzene (ISOLUTE ENV +). The procedure involved concentrating the analyte from fluroxypyr‐spiked water at pH 3, followed by elution of the analyte with 4 mL of acentonitrile. The recovery of fluroxypyr from the spiked sample at 1 to 50 µg L− 1 after eluting through either C18 or C18 end‐capped ranged from 40–64% (with relative standard deviation of 0.7 to 2.15) and 41–65% (with standard deviation of 1.52 to 11.9). The use of ISOLUTE ENV +, gave better results than the C18, C18 end‐capped or the Direct Measurement Methods. The recovery and standard deviation of fluroxypyr from spiked water using ISOLUTE ENV + ranged from 91–102% and 2.5 to 5.3, respectively.

Oil Palm Phenolics Inhibit the In Vitro Aggregation of β-Amyloid Peptide into Oligomeric Complexes

Alzheimers disease is a severe neurodegenerative disease characterized by the aggregation of amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) into toxic oligomers which activate microglia and astrocytes causing acute neuroinflammation. Multiple studies show that the soluble oligomers of Aβ42 are neurotoxic and proinflammatory, whereas the monomers and insoluble fibrils are relatively nontoxic. We show that Aβ42 aggregation is inhibited in vitro by oil palm phenolics (OPP), an aqueous extract from the oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis). The data shows that OPP inhibits stacking of β-pleated sheets, which is essential for oligomerization. We demonstrate the inhibition of Aβ42 aggregation by (1) mass spectrometry; (2) Congo Red dye binding; (3) 2D-IR spectroscopy; (4) dynamic light scattering; (5) transmission electron microscopy; and (6) transgenic yeast rescue assay. In the yeast rescue assay, OPP significantly reduces the cytotoxicity of aggregating neuropeptides in yeast genetically engineered to overexpress these peptides. The data shows that OPP inhibits (1) the aggregation of Aβ into oligomers; (2) stacking of β-pleated sheets; and (3) fibrillar growth and coalescence. These inhibitory effects prevent the formation of neurotoxic oligomers and hold potential as a means to reduce neuroinflammation and neuronal death and thereby may play some role in the prevention or treatment of Alzheimers disease.

A phase i single-blind clinical trial to evaluate the safety of oil palm phenolics (OPP) supplementation in healthy volunteers

Plant phenolics are being increasingly consumed globally with limited scientific and clinical evidence pertaining to safety and efficacy. The oil palm fruit contains a cocktail of phenolics, and palm oil production results in high volumes of aqueous by-products enriched in phenolics and bioactives. Several lines of evidence from in vitro and in vivo animal studies confirmed that the aqueous extract enriched in phenolics and other bioactives collectively known as oil palm phenolics (OPP) is safe and has potent bioactivity. A phase one clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the safety and effects of OPP in healthy volunteers. In this single-blind trial, 25 healthy human volunteers were supplemented with 450 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/day of OPP or control treatments for a 60-day period. Fasting blood and urine samples were collected at days 1, 30 and 60. Medical examination was performed during these trial interventions. All clinical biochemistry profiles observed throughout the control and OPP treatment period were in the normal range with no major adverse effect (AE) or serious adverse effect (SAE) observed. Additionally, OPP supplementation resulted in improvement of total cholesterol and LDL-C levels, compared to the control treatment. The outcomes support our previous observations that OPP is safe and may have a protective role in reducing cholesterol levels.