Development of amperometric enzyme-based biosensor to evaluate the adulteration in virgin coconut oil. (Special Issue: Innovative methods in food process engineering.)

Virgin Coconut oil (VCO), owing to its functional properties (important in COVID-19), is costly and, therefore, susceptible to adulteration with other cheaper oils like coconut oil. An enzyme-based biosensor confirmative test of VCO was constructed by co-immobilizing enzymes onto a glassy carbon electrode. The performance of the biosensor was optimized at a potential of +0.5 V with 45 mg gelatin, 30 mg BSA coupled with 2.5% glutaraldehyde at pH 7.0 with an incubation time of 1 hr. Adulterated samples of VCO with coconut oil (CO) were analyzed. The concentration of diglyceride (DG) was estimated from the empirical relation, which showed a linear increase with the increase in adulteration. The developed biosensor was validated using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods using a paired sample t test at a 5% significance level. The biosensor could detect adulteration in VCO with CO above 20% within 3-5 s and can be reused for 25 days.

Building a safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable coconut community amid COVID-19 pandemic & beyond

Relevant fields which require ample attention in the coconut sector are discussed, including: rejuvenation, replanting and plantation development;production of quality planting materials with high productivity, new propagation methods, and seed/seedling sharing;development of scientific cultivation suitable for inter/multi species crops and coordination of international research;integrated processing and value addition;awareness raising, marketing and promotion;and formation of a marketing strategy for coconut value added products.

Philippine medicinal plants with potentialimmunomodulatory and anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to devastate the world's health and economy, affecting all aspects of life leading to widespread social disruption. Even as several vaccines have been developed, their availability in developing countries is limited and their efficacy against the variants of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2) needs to be continuously assessed. The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged that vaccines alone will not overcome the global challenges of COVID-19. Medicinal plants may provide the needed support. Herein, we identify Philippine medicinal plants that possess phytochemicals with potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity and/or immunomodulatory properties that may strengthen one's immune system against COVID-19. These plants were selected from 100 of the best-studied Philippine medicinal plants with antiviral and immunomodulatory properties. The general antiviral and specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities and immunomodulatory properties of the phytochemicals that these plants contained were searched. While many compounds assessed individually using in vitro and in silico techniques suggest potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 or immunomodulatory effects, this review sought to identify the medicinal plants which contain these compounds and which, based on literature, have the best potential application against COVID-19. These plants are Allium spp. bulbs (bawang), Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Nees leaves (sinta), Cocos nucifera L. oil (niyog), Euphorbia hirta L. leaves (tawa-tawa), Euphorbia neriifolia L. leaves (sorosoro), Moringa oleifera Lam. leaves (malunggay), Ocimum basilicum L. leaves (balanoy), Piper nigrum L. seeds (paminta), Vitex negundo L. leaves (lagundi), and Zingiber officinale Roscoe rhizome (luya). This review provides a shortlist that can guide research on possible solutions to COVID-19 using Philippine medicinal plants.

Virgin coconut oil (VCO): production, advantages, and potential utilization in various food products

Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) is coconut oil that is processed in a simple way without involving synthetic chemicals. Production methods that are commonly carried out on a household scale or micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) include the methods of induced, salting, centrifugation, and fermentation. This process causes the lauric acid content of VCO to be the highest compared to the other 2 oils, which is 53.70-54.06%, while ordinary coconut oil is 2.81% and palm oil is 0.45%. The high content of lauric acid makes VCO beneficial for health, including increasing endurance and accelerating the healing process of disease. In national and global and markets, until the 1990s VCO developed very slowly. But in 2020 the VCO market began to grow because people use this product as an antivirus against Covid-19. This paper explores the advantages, manufacturing technology, and trade of local and global VCO. Research results that apply VCO to food products and VCO-based food products that have the potential to be developed on the MSME scale are presented. Based on market potential, technology, and business capital, the most potential VCO-based product to be developed is chocolate bar.