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Rice blast disease caused by Pyricularia oryzae is the most devastative disease. The alternative in rice blast disease management using foliar silicon (Si) application is gaining attention. The mechanism underlying defense-related enzyme induced through foliar Si application is still scarce. This research aimed to elucidate the bio-efficacy of foliar Si in inducing defense-related enzyme activity against P. oryzae in two aerobic rice cultivars: MR219-4 (blast-partially resistant) and MARDI Aerob 1 (resistant). Calcium silicate at 9 mg/L was foliar-sprayed and the disease severity index was evaluated and transformed to the area under disease progress curves (AUDPC). Foliar Si application significantly reduced rice blast disease severities in both cultivars tested. The AUDPC was reduced to 96.57 (MR219-4) and 21.90 (MARDI Aerob 1), from 148.57 (MR219-4) and 53.73 (MARDI Aerob 1). Plant defense-related enzymes: peroxidase (PO), polyphenol oxidases (PPO), and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) were increased and might be associated to increase resistance. Also, there was a significant interaction (p=0.003) between rice cultivar and treatment to Si content in rice leaf. Thus, foliar application of Si in rice seedling underlined the important role of Si as a modulator in influencing plant defense-related enzymes with interacting with other stress signaling pathways leading to induce resistance.

In Malaysia, commercial stingless bee honey is in demand due to its nutritional and healing properties, especially in the cosmetic, food and beverage and pharmaceutical industry. However, up to date, these honey products from various districts of Kelantan were not subjected to compliance according to the specification of the Malaysian Standard (MS) 2683:2017. Thus, the objective of the current study was to determine the compliance of selected stingless bee honey (SBH) in Kelantan based upon physicochemical properties and microbiological analysis following MS 2683:2017 specifications. Physicochemical analysis of commercial stingless be honey shows the value of moisture, ash, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and pH were in the range of 27.05 ± 1.39 to 32.61 ± 2.79 %, 0.08 ± 0.01 to 0.14 ± 0.01 g, 8.78 ± 0.92 to 218.66 ± 0.70 mg/kg and 2.34 ± 0.01 to 3.22 ± 0.02, respectively. There was an absence of total coliform in all samples. In summary, all samples of stingless bee honey complied with MS 2683:2017 specification for physicochemical properties and microbial contaminant limits of total plate count (TPC) and total coliform. However, for the microbial contaminant limit of yeast and mold, only sample 6 was contaminated.

In Malaysia halal meat is fully defined by Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) based on the killing method. Halal meat is usually associated with quality as Muslim sought meat from animal killed using Islamic method. In order to ensure the food are meeting the Halal and thoyyiban aspects, the procedure must be monitored along the supply chains beginning from farm to fork. However, there are lack of studies on effect of slaughtering methods on chickens’ metabolite profile. Therefore, metabolomics approach by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) And Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography- Time of Flight- Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-TOF-MS) are used in this study to understand the metabolite profile of chickens when subjected to different slaughtering process. The broiler chickens were subjected to Halal (Islamic tradition) and non-Halal slaughtering method (neck poking) where pectoral major muscle tissues from the slaughtered meat were selected for FTIR and UHPLC-TOF-MS analysis. Results from FTIR analysis showed Halal and non-Halal chicken displayed different spectra regardless time of extraction, which was 0 and 24 hours. Spectra obtained from UHPLC-TOF- MS were further analyzed for statistical analysis, which are Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least-Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) using MetaboAnalyst 4.0. PLS-DA model showed higher intensity of histidine and inosine was recorded in non-Halal chicken while Halal chicken has higher concentration of hypoxanthine. Result from this study indicates that method of slaughter affects the metabolite profile of chicken