SERDANG, Oct 12 — An anti-obesity drink made from terung asam (sour eggplant) and a vegetable-based anti-inflammatory skin cream were among four new products launched by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) today.
The terung asam is rich in hydroxycinnamic acid (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial), the ‘maman’ (Cleome gynandra)-based cream is also anti-inflammatory while the other two new products are the carbonated young coconut drink and low-calorie coconut ice cream.
The four products were launched by Agriculture and Food Industries Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee and MARDI director-general, Datuk Dr Mohamad Zabawi Abdul Ghani in conjunction with MARDI Innovation Day 2021.
“Hopefully, these products can be commercialised such as the carbonated young coconut drink and low-calorie coconut ice cream, hence indirectly encouraging growing of coconuts in the country,” said Ronald.
Meanwhile, Mohamad Zabawi said MARDI was having discussions with interested companies on using its technology to enable them to make and market such products.
MARDI’s principal research officer, Dr Zuraida Ab Rahman said the terung asam-based drink, the result of her team’s research work, took three years to materialise.
Extracted from the sour fruit, it was developed for managing body or fighting obesity.
“From our research, this product could reduce the feeling of hunger, break down fat and is rich in fibre and could repair damaged intestines.
“The terung asam originates from Sarawak and often used in cooking but when the juice is extracted from the fruit through a certain process, it has a high nutritional value in managing body weight,” said Zuraida.
MARDI’s Strategic Centre director, Dr Sanimah Simoh said the anti-inflammatory cream created by her team was formulated from the combination of maman vegetable extract and virgin coconut oil for the skin.
“Maman is usually pickled or used in making rendang but our research found it to be rich in natural phytochemical and the product considered safe and potentially anti-inflammatory,” she added.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency