Babul-Airianah Othman

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia | ukm · School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology

This study evaluated the effects of rice husk ash (RHA) composite substrate on plant growth, photosynthetic parameters, and fruit quality of cucumber (Yuyi Longxiang variety) and melon (Yutian Yangjiaomi variety). RHA, peat, vermiculite, and perlite were mixed in different proportions, and the conventional seedling substrate (peat: vermiculite: per...

Fish farmers’ dependence on costly formulated fish feed has affected their income. The cost of formulated feed is also constantly rising. Efforts to mass-produce the locally available natural resource, namely water flea (Moina sp.), were initiated as an alternative to the commercially formulated fish feed. This study evaluates the most suitable gro...

Kombucha tea has been claimed to have several health benefits. Many factors influence the properties of kombucha tea produced. This study focused on the effects of starter cultures (kombucha liquid broth (KLB) and cellulosic pellicle (KCP)) and sweetener (white sugar (S), honey (H) and jaggery (J)) used in the production of kombucha tea. The result...

Anabas testudineus is a sturdy freshwater fish that can live in a polluted environment due to the epidermal mucus (EM) that protects the fish from pathogens or germs. This study explored the functional properties of the EM as a potential antimicrobial and anticancer agent. Inactive Pseudomonas aeruginosa was introduced into fish tanks to stimulate...

Fish is a potential source of various forms of bioactive compounds. It can be used as a source of specific proteins, especially in medicine. Recently, studies related to the use of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from fish are being carried out to find an alternative cure for cancer. To achieve this objective, the AMP used must meet a condition where...

Previous study has shown the antimicrobial activities of mucus protein extracted from Anabas testudineus . In this study, we are interested in characterizing the anticancer activity of the A. testudineus antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). The mucus was extracted, fractioned, and subjected to antibacterial activity testing to confirm the fish's AMPs pro...

The ability of natural extracts to inhibit melanocyte activity is of great interest to researchers. This study evaluates and explores the ability of mutated Shiitake (A37) and wildtype Shiitake (WE) extract to inhibit this activity. Several properties such as total phenolic (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC), antioxidant activity, effect on ce...

In this study, two native duckweeds (Lemna minor and Azolla pinnata) were cultivated in Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) to extract nutrients from the effluent. Five grams of A. pinnata and 2 g of L. minor were transferred to 2 L POME (Initial concentrations: 198 mg/L COD, 4.3 mg/L nitrates, pH 9.53, 4 mg/L phosphate, 2.98 mg/L ammonia) with four diff...

Kombucha is one of the traditional fermented drink and known as health drink due to its claimed therapeutic efficacy. Kombucha is commonly prepared by sweetening black tea with white sugar and fermented using a bactocellulosic culture of acetic acid bacteria and yeasts. Ethanol and acid production is a part of the fermentation process and too much...

Kombucha is a traditional fermented drink and has recently gained popularity due to its numerous claims on therapeutic effects. It is prepared by sweetening black tea and fermenting using a symbiotic culture of acetic acid bacteria and yeasts known as SCOBY. The drink can also be brewed using different types of tea and carbon sources. An investigat...

Lentinula edodes or better known as Shiitake mushroom contains β-1,3;1,6-glucan as part of the cell wall components and studies have shown that it has the ability to enhance the immune system and work as anticancer. The aim of this study is to create potential strain of L. edodes with the high content of β-1,3;1,6-glucan, which has the potential fo...

Cadmium (Cd) contamination of urban and agricultural soils is toxic to humans, animals and may cause negative effects on plant growth and crop production. The existing conventional methods are found to be not efficient to remove Cd from contaminated soil. The present experiment reports the analysis of nine T1 lines of transgenic tobacco carrying me...

Xanthone is an organic compound mostly found in mangosteen pericarp and widely known for its anti-proliferating effect on cancer cells. In this study, we evaluated the effects of xanthone crude extract (XCE) and α-mangostin (α-MG) on normoxic and hypoxic human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells and their toxicity towards zebrafish embryos. XCE...

Lignocellulosic materials have high demand bio-polymers industries as it is rich in cellulose but other residues that still remain in the extracted cellulose might influence the ability of cellulose-rich material to interact with other polymers. In this study, cellulose fibre was extracted from oil palm frond (OPF) using alkali and bleaching treatm...

Expansin increases cell wall extensibility to allow cell wall loosening and cell expansion even in the absence of hydrolytic activity. Previous studies showed that excessive overexpression of expansin gene resulted in defective growth (Goh et al., 2014; Rochange et al., 2001) [1,2] and altered cell wall chemical composition (Zenoni et al., 2011) [3...

Expansin is a cell wall loosening protein without hydrolytic activity, which allows cell expansion by influencing cell wall extensibility. Previous studies showed that the suppression of expansin genes (EXPA1, EXPA3, EXPA5 and EXPA10) resulted in defective organ growth and altered cell wall chemical composition [1,2]. However, the molecular mechani...

Lentinula edodes or commonly known as shiitake is a cultivated edible mushroom. This mushroom has been used in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmeceutical industries. However after years of selective inbreeding, the mushroom suffers from a small genetic pool. In this study, we attempt to produce genetic variants of shiitake via γ-irradiation. S...

In this study, we observed the effect of sound, predatory and new enviroment on zebrafish behavior to determine which factor gives the most effect on the fish. Elevation of stress was observed on fishes that were moved consecutively into a container. Interestingly, this does not impair the fish feeding activity, even with the presence of a predator...

Lignocellulosic materials comprise cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin and others component such as pectins and protein. However, the content and composition of these components vary, depending on plant species, variety, plant growth and development condition, which are influenced by season and geographical location. In this study, the lignocellulosi...

Development of natural formulated lipstick using natural bio resources namely plant pigments and essential oils was carried out as an alternative to chemical-based ingredients due to their side effects and damages to health. Hylocereus polyrhizus (Costa Rican Pitahaya, also more popularly known among Malaysian as " Dragon Fruit ") peels are normall...

Background and aims: Many fruits soften during ripening, which is important commercially and in rendering the fruit attractive to seed-dispersing animals. Cell-wall polysaccharide hydrolases may contribute to softening, but sometimes appear to be absent. An alternative hypothesis is that hydroxyl radicals ((•)OH) non-enzymically cleave wall polysa...

Hydroxyl radicals (•OH) cause non-enzymic scission of polysaccharides in diverse biological systems. Such reactions can be detrimental (e.g. causing rheumatic and arthritic diseases in mammals) or beneficial (e.g. promoting the softening of ripening fruit, and biomass saccharification). Here we present a method for documenting •OH action, based on...

Cell wall loosening and degradation are important processes in major stages of plant development including fruit ripening. Three main mechanisms have been proposed to contribute towards cell wall polysaccharide degradation in vivo: enzymic hydrolysis by endopolygalacturonase (EPG), enzymic elimination by pectate lyase (PL), and non-enzymic scission...