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This research aims to observe the usability of waste eggshells as a heterogeneous CaO-based catalyst to produce biodiesel via the transesterification process. The waste eggshell contains CaO and serves as a heterogeneous catalyst that can be extracted using a simple heat treatment technique. The catalyst loading used in this study were 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 wt.%. The biodiesel yield affects the variables of the reaction, including the amount of catalyst used. According to the findings in this work, the low-weight catalyst produced more biodiesel (64% of yield) than other catalysts in the studies. Using the same CaO catalyst with a 1 wt.% catalyst, previous studies showed a biodiesel yield of 56.64%. Outcomes revealed that waste eggshells could be used as an effective catalyst to transform waste cooking oil into biodiesel, thereby significantly lowering biodiesel costs and improving product yield and fuel properties.

Active and smart packaging is a promising form of food packaging that offers a great economical potential due to consumer demand for a packaging that accommodate a hectic way of life. An antimicrobial film with pH colour indicator (pHF) can be made by incorporating suitable antimicrobial (AM) agent and colour indicator into food package matrices whilst applying a bio switch concept to inhibit the pathogenic microorganisms and respond automatically to changes (external stimuli) in the environment. The present work aimed to study the developed formulation of hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC)/wheat-starch based pHF film in which the active compound, thymol (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5% w/w) and 50:50% w/w bromothymol blue and methyl red (as the colour indicator) against microbial growth. A solution casting method was used in the film preparation while thymol and colourant were incorporated prior to casting. The effect of thymol showed a range of microbial inhibition zones of 16.3 - 26.4% and 22.1 - 39.9% towards E. coli and B. subtilis, respectively. Whilst, a lower inhibition zone of 0.4 - 5.1% was demonstrated for fungus A. niger.