Spices and herbs are used in culinary and are also considered medicinally important due to their antioxidant contents. In this project four spices namely, Zingiber officinale (Ginger), Allium cepa (Onion), Syzygium aromaticum (Clove), Cymbopogon citrates (Lemongrass) and four herbs such as Allium fistulosum (Bunching onion), Coriandrum Sativum (Coriander), Murraya koenigii (Curry leaves) and Ocimum tenuiflorum (Holy basil) were incorporated into three different formulations. These formulations namely F1 (mixed herbs 25% each), F2 (mixed spices 25% each) and F3 (mixed spices & herbs 12.5% each) were studied for their antioxidant/mineral profile. The three formulations were extracted with cold water, hot water & methanol and the extracts were analyzed for antioxidant contents/activities. The antioxidants like total phenolic contents (TPC) were determined by Folin- Ciocalteu method, total flavonoid contents (TFC) were determined by Aluminium chloride complex forming assay. The antioxidants such as gallic acid, catechin and quercetin were quantified chromatographically. Whereas the antioxidant activities of the extracts were determined by DPPH, HRSA and FRAP assays. Minerals such as Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca), Potassium (K), and trace elements such as Manganese (Mn), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe) and Zinc (Zn) were determined by using ICP-MS. The collected data of the listed parameters was statistically analyzed by using SPSS. The methanolic extract of formulation F3 (mixed spices & herbs) showed significantly (p<0.05) higher TPC with the mean concentration of 4.45 ± 0.2 mg GAE/ml. The methanolic extract of formulation F3 showed significantly (p<0.05) higher TFC being 3.30 ± 0.22 mg QE/ml. Furthermore, the chromatographic evaluation of formulation F2 showed highest concentration of gallic acid, catechin and quercetin that is 86.0, 339.40 & 394.59 µg/ml respectively. The antioxidant activities in DPPH assay of the methanolic extract of formulation F3 showed significantly (p<0.05) stronger antioxidant activity with the IC50 value of 65.03 ± 2.3 µg GAE/ml. In HRSA the hot water extract of formulation F3 showed significantly (p<0.05) stronger activity with IC50 value of 1493 ± 187.4 µg AAE/ml. In FRAP assay the cold water extract of F2 showed significantly (p<0.05) stronger activity being the FRAP value of 98.9 ± 4.3 µg TE/ml. Considering the results of mineral analysis, F1 showed significantly (p<0.05) higher Potassium (K) content of 33589 ± 841 µg/g. The results of this study indicate that as a whole the formulations F2 & F3 possessed higher antioxidant contents/activities than F1. Furthermore, significant (p<0.05) associations between the antioxidant contents and activities were observed. As an outcome of this study it could be said that the use of tested formulations of spices and herbs as health supplements could be highly effective to control the drastic repercussions of the oxidative stress.

This research was performed to explore the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of selected Malaysian honeys namely Trigona bee honey from Kedah (TB1), Trigona bee honey from Kelantan (TB2), wild Tualang honey from Pahang (TU1) and farmed Tualang honey from Pahang (TU2). Proximate compositions were determined according to AOAC methods. Sugar contents were quantified using HPLC. Minerals were determined by using ICP-MS. Honeys were analyzed for their physical and antioxidant properties in vitro. Findings showed that TB1 had significantly the highest dietary fiber content (0.612±0.027g/100g ; p<0.05). TB2 showed significantly the higher moisture (30.586±0.109 g/100g ; p<0.05) and ash (0.766±0.010 g/100g ; p<0.05) contents. TU1 recorded the highest value protein content (1.776±0.010 g/100g ; p<0.05). TU2 had significantly the highest total carbohydrate (79.980±0.289 g/100g ; p<0.05) and gross energy (322.780±1.074 Kcal/100g ; p<0.05). Total fat content was significantly the lowest in TB2 (0.025±0.003 g/100g ; p<0.05). For sugar contents, TU1 had higher value of fructose content (33.500±3.473 g/100g ; p<0.05) compared to TB2 and TU2 while TB1 showed significantly the highest value of glucose (40.983±0.941g/100g ; p<0.05). Furthermore, TB2 possessed significantly (p<0.05) the highest values of potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, cobalt and barium with means of 5162.93±23.17 µg/g, 214.80±2.76 µg/g, 364.23±2.8 µg/g, 14.967±0.153 µg/g, 0.328±0.009 µg/g and 0.845±0.003 µg/g, respectively. TU2 recorded significantly (p<0.05) the highest values of iron, chromium, vanadium, silver and nickel with means of 30.233±0.321 µg/g, 0.079±0.012 µg/g, 0.09±0.001 µg/g, 0.599±0.074 µg/g and 0.309±0.003µg/g. Results from heavy metals showed that TB2 possessed the highest values of lead (1.967±0.058 µg/g ; p<0.05) and cadmium (0.050±0.002 µg/g ; p<0.05) while arsenic was found only in TU2 (0.003±0.001 µg/g). However, the amount of heavy metals existed is considered safe for consumption. In term of physical properties, TB1 had significantly the lowest value of pH (3.08±0.020 ; p<0.05). TB2 exhibited significantly the highest values of electrical conductivity (EC) (1.473±0.018 mS/cm ; p<0.05) and mm Pfund (672.883±13.64 ; p<0.05). TU1 recorded significantly the lowest value of water activity (aw) (0.675±0.002 ; p<0.05). TU2 possessed significantly the highest value of TSS (76.267±0.058 °Brix ; p<0.05). For antioxidant contents, TB2 showed significantly the highest values of TPC (33.711±0.590 mg GAE/100g ; p<0.05) and TFC (2.217±0.126 mg QE/100g ; p<0.05). Antioxidant activities assays showed that TB2 possessed significantly the highest values in DPPH assay (84.521±1.859 % ; p<0.05) and the highest value in FRAP assay (368.472±0.939 µM TE/100g ; p<0.05). It can be concluded that, honey have many beneficial properties with tremendous potential to be used as a nutritional supplements particularly with a preference for TB2 due to its higher mineral contents, antioxidant contents and activities

Porcupine bezoar (PB) has been traditionally claimed to be able to cure various type of diseases. However, the effect of extraction method on its biological activity and phytochemical profile has never been studied. Hence, three different types of PB namely, blood date (PB1), powdery date (PB2) and grassy date (PB3) were initially procured then extracted using sonication method (30 minutes for 3x) and evaluated for their antioxidant potentials through determination of total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC). Moreover, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay was also carried out to confirm free-radical- scavenging effect of all PBs extracts. Based on the results obtained, PB3 was chosen for the next phase of analysis and subjected to both maceration (72h at room temperature in magnetic stirrer) and sonication extraction method (30 minutes for 3x). In this regard, the antioxidant activities of both PB3 aqueous extracts obtained through maceration (PB3M) and sonication (PB3S) extraction methods were further evaluated using dot-blot (in DPPH, ABTS and β-carotene solution), TPC, TFC and DPPH assays. The phytochemical analysis was performed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and anticancer screening was performed on three different types of cancer cell lines viz. malignant melanoma cell line (A375), cervical carcinoma cell line (HeLa) and breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF7). Normal HDF cells were used as control. The TPC value of the PBs showed increasing order from PB3 (5.56 ± 0.29 μg GAE/5 mg dry extract) < PB2 (7.70 ± 0.14 μg GAE/5 mg dry extract) < PB1 (8.00 ± 1.19 μg GAE/5 mg dry extract). All three PBs were devoid of flavonoids with negative values (PB1, -26.29 μg QE/5 mg dry extract, PB2, -23.30 μg QE/5 mg dry extract, PB3, -4.10 μg QE/5 mg dry extract). Among all the extracts, PB3 exhibited good radical-scavenging activity with >50% inhibition on DPPH radical. The dot-blot assay for PB3M and PB3S showed similar result in all three types of solutions. PB3S showed higher TPC value (5.56 ± 0.29 μg GAE/5 mg dry extract) and lower IC50 of DPPH assay (75.81 ± 7.33 µg/mL) compared to PB3M (4.55 ± 0.04 μg GAE/5 mg dry extract and 458.82 ± 15.80 µg/mL respectively). Both extracts were devoid of flavonoids. GC-MS analysis revealed myristic acid, ursodeoxycholic acid, pentadecyl acrylate, 2-palmitoylglycerol and stearic acid as the main bioactive compounds in PB3M while ursodeoxycholic acid, 17α-Hydroxypregnenolone, pentadecyl acrylate, stearic acid and 1-Dodecanol were detected as the main bioactive compounds in PB3S. The anti-proliferation assay showed similar inhibition results on A375 and MCF7 cells for both the extracts (PB3M and PB3S) while on HeLa cell, PB3M (1.27 ± 0.07 µg/mL) was found to be the more potent than PB3S (1.93 ± 0.07 µg/mL) with lower IC50 value. As conclusion, PB3 demonstrated better antioxidant activities compared to PB1 and PB2. PB3S, the aqueous extract obtained through sonication method, exhibited good antioxidant activities, higher abundancy of phytochemicals and similar anti proliferative activity on cancer cell lines compared to that of PB3M, the aqueous extract obtained through the maceration method. Hence, PB extract obtained through sonication technique is expected to manifest better biological effect and could prove more beneficial. However, more in-depth studies are still warranted to further confirm PB extract’s beneficial effects to treat different disorders.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have become a leading cause of death and disability and staggering increase in its incidence has been documented worldwide. Previous conducted research has provided the evidence on effectiveness of antioxidative properties of polyphenols contained in fruits and vegetables at combating various chronic diseases including CVD. Baccaurea angulata, locally known as 'belimbing dayak‘ or 'belimbing hutan‘ is one edible fruit species restrictedly distributed in Sabah and Sarawak. This present study was aimed to provide scientific data on nutritional information and health benefits of B. angulata juice extract (BAE). Pearson‘s correlation was used to obtained corelation whereas analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the mean different among data. Freeze dried BAE consisted of high carbohydrate followed by moisture, total dietary fiber, ash, and protein. The extract holds high energy density with low water activity (Aw) value for storage stability. Phytochemical screening revealed that BAE contained of 7.90 0.05 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g of total phenolic acids and 12.74 0.24 mg quercetin equivalent (QE)/g of total flavonoids content and both were strongly correlated to ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) value (p<0.01) but not to superoxide anion/xanthine oxidase dismutase (XOD) scavenging capacity. Male Sprague Dawley rats were induced with high cholesterol diet (normal rat chow enriched with 1 % cholesterol and 0.2 % cholic acid) and supplemented with BAE given orally for 10 weeks. No significant changes in body weight, heart and kidney weight were notified. Liver weight was significantly higher in groups consuming high cholesterol diet (p<0.05) than in normal control with slight decrease in groups supplemented with BAE than hypercholesterolemic control (CP). Plasma and liver total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), and atherogenic index (AI) were markedly increased in CP group with significant values in TC, LDL-c, and AI (p<0.05) and reduced in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c). Reduction of plasma and liver TC, TG, LDL-c and AI were observed in dose-dependent manner upon consumption of 100 (TL), 300 (TM) and 500 mg (TH) of BAE/kg body weight/day with significant reduction in plasma TG (p<0.05). Notable increase in plasma HDL-c was found in all groups consuming BAE compared to CP group but liver HDL-c was less affected. The highly reduced plasma and liver glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), in CP group were raised in all groups consuming BAE especially by TM group (300 mg BAE/kg bodyweight/day). Remarkably, with reference to normal control, plasma SOD value was successfully restored in TM and TH groups. In determining the effects of post BAE administration towards liver and kidney, no significant changes (p>0.05) in aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein, albumin, urea, and creatinine levels were evaluated. Notable increased in AST, ALT, and ALP were observed in CP group due to hypercholesterolemic condition and with reference to normal control, these parameters were least affected in TM group. Furthermore, BAE showed no significant effects towards haematological parameters.