Prof. Flora Elvistia
Jayabaya University, Indonesia
Prof. Dr. Flora Elvistia is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Jayabaya University in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her research interests include polymer production, environmental engineering, and material composites. She has published several papers on these topics and is involved in various research projects. Flora has experience as a reviewer in several journals affiliated with the Royal Society of Chemistry in the UK. She was selected as one of the best papers at the Pilsen, Czech Republic conference.
Speech title "Antibacterial Activity of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) Against Staphylococcus aureus in Cellulose Nanofibers from Lignocellulosic Biomass and Glycerol"
Abstract-Lemongrass oil (LGO) has great
antimicrobial effects, it increases shelf life
as a food coating. Incorporating LGO into
cellulose nanofibres (CNFs)-(Glycerol)-(Starch)
was done by a mixing procedure and the
antibacterial characteristics were evaluated.
The interaction of LGO in the composite systems
was studied by Scanning electron microscopy
(SEM), microbial analysis by total plate count,
antimicrobial by inhibitory zone, film
thickness, and by the support of
Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR).
The results indicated that the best composite
systems could maintain LGO by 0.15 g at all
predetermined cellulose concentrations. Its
antibacterial substance can be integrated into a
polymer matrix for active coating.
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia
Dr. Ong Mei
Kying graduated from the Universiti Putra
Malaysia with Bachelor degree in Food Science
and Technology in year 2002 and further obtained
her Master’s of Science in Plant Biotechnology
from the same university in 2008. She obtained
her doctorate degree in Postharvest
Biotechnology from the University Nottingham
Malaysia Campus in 2014. Since 2014, Dr. Ong is
working as the Assistant Professor in the
Department of Agricultural and Food Science at
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar Campus in
Malaysia, where she once served as the Head of
the Department for 5 years in the university.
She has 10 years of working experience in food
and agriculture technology. She has also
published and presented several papers in
national and international journals and
conferences. She has been teaching in the areas
of Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, Food
Product Innovation, Postharvest Technology, Food
Preservation, Food Safety and Quality Assurance.
Her current research interests are on novel food
product development from waste / garden pest and
insect, preservation method, sensory analysis,
postharvest physiology and technology of fresh
produces.
Speech title "Amino acid composition, antioxidant activity and mineral content of Achatina fulica snail slimes and edible bird's nest"
Abstract-This study was performed to investigate whether the snail slimes which also well-known for their anti-aging properties, can be served as an alternative for edible bird’s nest (EBN) in our daily lives. The amino acid composition of samples was evaluated using a reversed-phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography. The four major amino acids detected in snail slimes were aspartic acid (3.80 μmol/mL), glutamic acid (2.87 μmol/mL), alanine (2.23 μmol/mL) and serine (1.80 μmol/mL), while for EBN, the top four amino acids were proline (5.31 μmol/mL), serine (5.27 μmol/mL), aspartic acid (4.78 μmol/mL) and threonine (3.97 μmol/mL). In overall, EBN possessed significantly (p < 0.05) higher total amino acid content (42.63 μmol/mL) than the snail slimes (23.59 μmol/mL). Besides, the EBN was found to have significantly higher (p < 0.05) DPPH free radical scavenging activity (25.12 %) as compared to the snail slimes (16.02 %). The four major elements identified in snail slimes and EBN were sodium, calcium, potassium and magnesium. Snail slimes contained higher levels of minerals compared to EBN. In conclusion, the snail slimes can potentially be served as an alternative of EBN to those people suffered from mineral deficiencies.