Shahrul R Sarbini

• Ph.D. in Food and Nutritional Sciences
• Head of Faculty at Universiti Putra Malaysia

This study investigated the dual potential of Azolla pinnata fern protein hydrolysates (AFPHs) as functional and nutraceutical ingredients in an oil/water emulsion system. The AFPH-stabilised emulsion (AFPH-E) displayed a small and uniform droplet distribution and was stable to aggregation and creaming over a wide range of pH (5-8), salt concentrat...

Bioactive peptides generated from food proteins have gained much interest as functional foods. Recently, the application of lactic acid fermentation has developed rapidly thanks to the discovery of probiotic functions in lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Aside from converting a fermentable carbohydrate into lactic acid, many strains of LAB were found to...

Black and white pepper of the species Piper nigrum L. is regarded as the king of spices, and Malaysia is the second largest producer of peppercorns, after Indonesia. This spice contains abundant bioactive compounds that are capable of enhancing human health. However, the prebiotic potential of P. nigrum L. as a food ingredient has not yet been expl...

ABSTRACT. Probiotics are a helpful alternative that can be used to increase aquaculture output in a sustainable way. For probiotics to have the desired effects when applied to a certain aquaculture species, first, the proper strain and dosage must be chosen. The second, probiotics can be given intravenously, orally, or as feed additives, the last o...

Probiotics are a helpful alternative that can be used to increase aquaculture output in a sustainable way. For probiotics to have the desired effects when applied to a certain aquaculture species, first, the proper strain and dosage must be chosen. The second, probiotics can be given intravenously, orally, or as feed additives, the last of which is...

Gum arabic consisted of polysaccharides that has the potential to be converted into oligosaccharides through degradation. Thus, this study aimed to determine the effect of gum arabic degradation on the growth of two Lactobacillus probiotic strains. Two types of gum arabic (Acacia senegaland Acacia seyal) were subjected to trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)...

Commercial acacia gum (AG) used in this study is a premium-grade free-flowing powder. It is a gummy exudate composed of arabinogalactan branched polysaccharide, a biopolymer of arabinose and galactose. Also known as food additive, acacia gum (E414), which is presently marketed as a functional dietary fiber to improve overall human gut health. The h...

One hypothesis that has gained attention for the occurrence of obesity is due to the reaction of the microorganisms in our gut. It has been established that the food intake and dietary composition modulates the composition of the gut microbiota. The main aim for the study is to determine the potential of sago starch as prebiotic. Whereby, sago star...

Morphological characteristics of Piper rubro-venosum hort. ex Rodigas bear a close resemblance to a plant identified as Piper crocatum Ruiz & Pav. in 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 i...

Native starches from various plant origins have limitations in their physicochemical properties. These properties influence the qualities of formulated food products, especially in appearance, texture, structure, and taste. Therefore, modification is required to improve the properties and functionalities of starch. Additionally, starch modification...

Obesity has become an epidemic where it happens drastically among developing countries. Studies suggested that dietary intake are able to influence human health issues including obesity. Prebiotics are food ingredients that can positively contribute to human health by influencing the balance in gut microbiota. Thus, prebiotic dietary can selectivel...

BACKGROUND Edible palm hearts (EPH), known as palmito, chonta or swamp cabbage in America or umbut in Malaysia, is a type of vegetable harvested from palm tree species. EPH is firm and smooth and described as having a flavor resembling artichoke. It has underlying prebiotic potential that selectively stimulates the growth and activity of beneficial...

Fruit waste is being studied as a non-conventional alternative source of nutritional and mineral content that might be employed as functional food ingredients. This study aims to identify the 1) proximate and mineral composition of banana, orange and watermelon waste powder subjected to different drying methods; 2) prebiotic potential of the fruit...

The abundance of sago starch triggered the idea to convert it to resistant starch (RS) type IV as potential functional food. Hence, sago starch pastes with different concentration of 10% w/v, 18% w/v and 30% w/v, were tested with different chemical treatments; hydroxypropylation, acetylation, phosphorylation, and dual modification (phosphorylation/...

The swiftlet’s nest is an edible bird’s nest (EBN) produced from dried gelatinized saliva secreted by swiftlets during the breeding season. It is widely used in industries for its high nutritional values and health benefits. However, the utilization of ESN is restricted due to its physicochemical properties, such as insolubility. The recently inven...

The 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; specif...

Figure S1: Full representative 1H-NMR spectra of three “sirih”, Figure S2: PCA score and loading plots of preprocessed 1H-NMR spectral data, Figure S3: Correlation-scaled PCA biplot for “sirih merah, Figure S4: Excerpt from DNA barcoding report on identification of “sirih merah” as P. rubro-venosum, Figure S5: Leaf samples included in or exclud...

Sago starch which naturally contains high amount of resistant starch, comes to the attention due to its ability to confer health benefits as functional food i.e., prebiotic. The present work aimed to investigate the effects of sago starch consumption on body weight, satiation, caecum short chain fatty acids body, and hepatic lipid content on diet-i...

Fructooligosaccharides can be produced by direct enzymatic conversion from sucrose-rich sugarcane syrup (SS) consisting of 58.93% sucrose yielding 21.28 g FOS/100 g sucrose. This study evaluated the prebiotic effect of unpurified/purified SS containing FOS for the modulation of the human intestinal microbial composition and short-chain fatty acid p...

Acacia gum (AG) is a branched-polysaccharide gummy exudate that consists of arabinose and galactose. The traditional practice in African-Middle Eastern countries uses this gum as medicine. Traditional use of AG is to treat stomach disease, which can be a potential functional food. In this research, commercially available AG from Acacia senegal and...

Sago starch is an underutilized starch due to its low functionality in the formulation of food products. Starch modification can enhance the functionality and functional food properties such as solubility and resistant starch content, respectively. The sago starch was treated by microwave heat treatment with two different pre-treatment which were w...

The Malaysian water buffalo, Bubalus bubalis, has traditionally been an important livestock for the local people of Sarawak. Buffalo, other ruminants, and non-ruminants are essential for the livestock industry as they supply the largest source of protein for the entire nation. Cattle provide the largest production in the livestock industry at 0.2%,...

Background Gut microbiota are critical for proper metabolic functions. Gut health can often be improved with dietary modulation, especially with probiotic and prebiotic. These supplements can stimulate immune system responses and prevent colonization by pathogen. Many diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, heart diseases, obesity, and cancers, benefi...

Background Edible swiftlet's nest (ESN) is dried gelatinized saliva secreted by swiftlets during the breeding season. The ESN has been widely consumed as a food and medicine since the ancient dynasty of China, particularly in the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). As a food with health-promoting effects, this made ESN a potential funct...

Bioactive edible swiftlet's nest (ESN) sialylated-mucin (SiaMuc) hydrolysate is produced by alcalase hydrolysis. Enzymatic hydrolysis of ESN breakdown high-valued ESN SiaMuc-glycoprotein into bioactive SiaMuc-glycopeptide. This is a breakthrough for the issue of insolubility and low extraction rate in ESN, and even increases the bioavailability of...

The main focus of this study was to produce the angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides from collagen type I using new combination of Thermoase PC10F and tilapia skin as a protein collagen source. In silico evaluation of amino acids profile of collagen type I, ACE-inhibitory peptides and sensory profile of the hydrolyzate were per...

Sago starch is an underutilized starch due to its low functionality in food formulation. Modification is effective in improving starch functional properties. In this study, the starch were modified to enhance its functional properties. The starch was microwave-heated with different treatment durations of 5, 10, 15, or 20 min, separately, yielding m...

The consumption of indigenous leafy vegetables (ILV) is a common practice among local people in Bintulu. It serves as an important food resource for local communities in rural areas. However, these traditional practices were declining in urban areas and among younger generations. Therefore, the study aimed to record the ILV consumed by the local pe...

Umai is a popular, traditional, native dish of the Melanau ethnic group in Sarawak. It is prepared using thin slices of raw marine fish marinated with calamansi juice and seasoned with other ingredients. The local people believe that the acidity of the citrus juice, along with the use of salt and spice, can slightly cook the fish and remove the fis...

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) have gained significant attention for their prebiotic properties. Given that sugarcane syrup (SS) is sucrose-rich but with other nutritional benefits, its direct transformation into FOS may add value to this product. Therefore, the aims of this study were to develop FOS conversion from SS and to define the kinetic behav...

Gut microbiota is able to affect body weight by fermenting dried fibers and generating short chain fatty acids (SCFA). Acacia senegal is an edible dried which might have potential prebiotic activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Acacia senegal as potential prebiotic on the composition and activity of human colonic microbio...

There are numerous species of bacteria resides in the lumen of human colon. The word ‘colon’, resembles colony or the colonization of microbiota of which plays an important role in the fermentation of prebiotics. The standpoint of prebiotic nowadays is well reported for attenuating gut dysbiosis in many clinical studies tested on animals and human....

Edible bird’s nest (EBN), the swiftlet’s nest, has been consumed for centuries as a tonic or health food. The information upon the usage and benefits of the EBN are largely based on historical and observational reports since its discovery, until some were proven scientifically at recent times. Studies have been conducted on the major components of...

Purpose Edible bird’s nest (EBN) has been considered as one of the nutritious foods and was also claimed to aid in digestion problems. Potential prebiotic of the EBN for gut health by the presence of glycan within the complex structure of the EBN glycoprotein to date has not been reported. The gut health can contribute to the overall consumers’ hea...

Aims: The concept of using specific dietary components to selectively modulate the gut microbiota to confer a health benefit, defined as prebiotics, originated in 1995. In 2018, a group of scientists met at the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics annual meeting in Singapore to discuss advances in the prebiotic field,...

At birth, the human colon is rapidly colonized by gut microbes. Owing to their vast number and their capacity to ferment prebiotics, these gastrointestinal microbes act as an environmental factor that affects the host’s physiology and metabolism, particularly in the context of obesity and its related metabolic disorders. In this study, we investiga...

Urbanization and ever increasing socioeconomic activities have degraded natural resources globally. This study monitored water quality (WQI) based on physicochemical and microbial qualities of river water in an industrial region northwest coast of Borneo. Microbiological parameters tested included total viable count (TVC), coliform count (TC), faec...

There is a growing consensus of acacia gum, currently marketed as functional food to improve overall human health including the gut. This natural product is a branched polysaccharide gummy exudate made up of arabinogalactan is a biopolymer of arabinose and galactose monosaccharides. Thus, this research aims to investigate commercially available Tay...

Resistant starch is the non-digestible portion of starch that reaches the colon and act as a prebiotic to stimulate the activity and growth of beneficial gut microbiota. In the present study, resistant starch content of native (lemantak), commercialized and retrograded sago and starch was analysed, and the in vitro fermentability with known probiot...

Gum Arabic is believed to have many health benefits including prevention of gastrointestinal diseases. Prebiotic resist digestion in the upper gastrointestinal tract and allowed for stimulation of bacterial growth in the distal intestine and colon. The prebiotic properties of Acacia Senegal was studied using mixed cultures of human fecal bacteria f...

Prebiotics are any undigested food ingredients that are selectively fermented and allow for specific changes in the gut microbiota, thus improving the hosts’ health. In order to assess the potential of a food component to be considered as a prebiotic ingredient, several in vitro and in vivo experimentations need to be performed to provide scientifi...

Prebiotics are known as the ‘food’ for beneficial gut microbiota that are capable of promoting host health. Their effects depend on the product of gut fermentation or metabolites. This paper discusses the role of prebiotics on cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and cell integrity. Metabolites produced from the fermentation of prebiotics can be used to und...

Red seaweed (Kappaphycus alvarezii) cultivated from Sabah (RSS) and Langkawi (RSL) were digested using in vitro mouth, gastric and duodenal model. The digested seaweed then fermented in a pH-controlled batch culture system inoculated with human faeces to mimic the distal colon. Bacterial enumeration were monitored using fluorescent in situ hybridis...

Resistant starch (RS) is the sum of starch that escape upper gastrointestinal digestion and can be fermented by colonic microorganisms to produce beneficial metabolites such as short chain fatty acids (SCFA). Resistant starch can be a potential prebiotic, a non-digestible food ingredient that selectively stimulate the growth and/or activity of gut...

Whole grains consumption promotes health benefits, but demonstrates controversial impacts from phytic acid in meeting requirements of good health. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the nutrient bioaccessibility and antioxidant properties of rice cultivars named "Adan" or "Bario" and deduce the nutritional impact of phytic acid. Majority...

Abstract Resistant starch is defined as the total amount of starch and the products of starch degradation that resists digestion in the small intestine. Starches that were able to resist the digestion will arrive at the colon where they will be fermented by the gut microbiota, producing a variety of products which include short chain fatty acids th...

Premna serratifolia has been used to treat inflammatory disorders because it was believed to have antioxidant properties. However, scientific research on this species is currently lacking. This work assesses the antioxidant activity of P. serratifolia in relation to light intensity and temperature. Harvesting time significantly influenced the antio...

The energy-salvaging capacity of the gut microbiota from dietary ingredients has been proposed as a contributing factor for the development of obesity. This knowledge generated interest in the use of non-digestible dietary ingredients such as prebiotics to manipulate host energy homeostasis. In the present study, the in vitro response of obese huma...

Phytate complexes in whole grain rice are indigestible by human but can be broken down by endogenous phytase enzyme. The inherent phytate content and phrase activity could influence the nutritional quality of whole grain rice. This work aims to determine and identify their variability with genotypes, growing areas and grain morphology. It was found...

The fermentation selectivity of a commercial source of α-gluco-oligosaccharides (BioEcolians; Solabia) was investigated in vitro. Fermentation by faecal bacteria from four lean and four obese healthy adults was determined in anaerobic, pH-controlled faecal batch cultures. Inulin was used as a positive prebiotic control. Samples were obtained at 0,...

Prebiotics are a type of functional food ingredient that positively modulates the gut microbiota, thus improving and maintaining health. However, information on prebiotic metabolism and uptake in the gut environment is currently scarce. One interesting research strategy is to look at prebiotic structures that influence such metabolism. Current preb...

The role of structure and molecular weight in fermentation selectivity in linear α-1,6 dextrans and dextrans with α-1,2 branching was investigated. Fermentation by gut bacteria was determined in anaerobic, pH-controlled fecal batch cultures after 36 h. Inulin (1%, wt/vol), which is a known prebiotic, was used as a control. Samples were obtained at...