Search results

The purpose of this paper is to assess the value of websites accessible to patients looking for Web-based information regarding hypertension management.

A cross-sectional research was carried out by finding out Malay and English language websites about hypertension. For this purpose, the keywords “hypertension and treatment” were entered on the Yahoo, Google, Ask.com, Bing and DuckDuckGo search engines, and the first five pages of the results obtained were inspected. The DISCERN tool was deployed for evaluating the quality of information. The actionability and understandability were assessed through the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT). Eight assessors were asked to assess and grade the involved websites.

Of the 216 websites, eight (4.0%) conformed to the inclusion norms. All websites were classified into private, 4 (50%); government, 2 (25%) and personal, 2 (25%). The general rating of the eight websites was good (mean 51.6 ± 8.2 on a 75-point scale); however, half of the websites were rated as fair (mean 45.3 ± 3.1 on a 75-point scale). All websites conformed to the standard score of ≥70% for understandability (mean 76.1 ± 11.4), but none for actionability (mean 52.8 ± 13.9). Analysis of variance indicated there was no statistical difference with regards to quality (p = 0.525), understandability (p = 0.484) and actionability (p = 0.188) among the three website sets.

Considering the surplus of websites dedicated to information on hypertension, an independent assessment of the quality of these websites will be advantageous. Patients should be rendered high understandability, quality and actionability to evade deceptive online information.

The purpose of this research is to produce “cempedak” juice using enzyme aided-liquefaction by examining the effects of enzyme types (Pectinex® Ultra SP-L, Celluclast® 1.5 L and Fungamyl® 800 L), enzyme concentrations (0–1.5% v/w), incubation time (0–2.5 h) and incubation temperature (35–60 °C) on juice yield and viscosity, total soluble solids and color of fruit puree.

Ripe “cempedak” pulp from CH28 fruit was first pureed in a blender and then homogenized with water at 1:2 ratio. The diluted puree was then liquefied with the enzymes separately to reduce its viscosity. Analyses such as juice yield, viscosity, total soluble solids and color of the liquefied “cempedak” puree were then carried out.

Results indicated that the optimized use of 1.2% (v/w) Celluclast® 1.5 L (Novozymes, Denmark), a cellulase preparation, at 45 °C and 1 h produced juice with the lowest viscosity (349.4 cP) and the highest juice yield (82.3% v/w). Liquefied “cempedak” juice was darker (with L* value of 51.17) and more yellowish (b* value of 38.88) compared to “cempedak” juice without liquefaction (control). When compared to untreated “cempedak” juice, the droplet size of “cempedak” juice obtained after liquefaction under optimized conditions was found to be lower, regardless of whether the juice was filtered (with a total reduction of 23% of droplet size) or not filtered (with a total reduction of 16% of droplet size). The results indicate the possibility of employing Celluclast® 1.5 L to produce “cempedak” juice that can be further processed such as for the production of “cempedak” fruit powder.

This paper provides information on the enzyme concentration, incubation time and temperature for liquefying “cempedak” pulp such that the liquefied material produced can be used as a base feed for spray-drying to produce “cempedak” fruit powder.