PKRU SciTech Journal

Development of Thai Herbal Compress Ball Extraction Method by Using Microwave-assisted Extraction

Pirunrat Sae-Lim — 2024-04-03

The purpose of this study was to compare the physical properties, chemical properties, and stabilities of the extracts obtained from fresh and dried herb ingredients used in Thai herbal compress balls. The extracts were obtained using coconut oil and ethanol as solvents through the microwave-assisted extraction. The results indicated that dried herbs extracted with coconut oil and ethanol exhibited a more greenish-brown color, higher concentration, viscosity, and pH compared to fresh herbs extracted with both solvents. Moreover, they also exhibited a better aroma. Additionally, when comparing the stability, overall physical and chemical properties, it was observed that the dried herbs extracted with ethanol maintained stability under all conditions. There were no changes observed in the physical characteristics, viscosity, and acidity. These findings suggest that the dried herbs extracted with ethanol are suitable for further development into herbal products for external use in the future.

Marine Sponges and Their Associated Macrofauna at Koh Sarai, Satun Province

Kanyanat Thepyot — 2024-04-03

This study aimed to investigate the species and distribution of marine sponges and their associated benthic macrofauna living in the sponge at Koh Sarai, Satun Province. The samples were collected at 5 stations on the rocky shore and muddy sand, 3 times during February, May, and August 2022. The results showed 14 species, 11 genera from 10 families of marine sponges. Callyspongia sp., Neopetrosia sp., and Haliclona (Gellius) cymaeformis were the most dominant sponges on the rocky shore. There were 36 families of macrofauna associated with them, mostly amphipods (Aoridae) and gastropods (Cerithiidae). These macrofauna were strongly associated with Callyspongia sp. and H. (G.) cymaeformis, whereas Tedania (Tedania) sp. and Haliclona sp.1 “green” were the most abundant on muddy sand which were closely associated with the 46 families of macrofauna (mostly Nerididae and Syllidae from class Polychaeta). While the high density of brittle stars, Ophiactidae were mainly found inhabiting massive of Mycale (Mycale) grandis Gray, 1867 which were found in all habitats. However, the composition of macrofauna associated with the sponge reefs in different habitat types and periods was quite different. Therefore, this study indicates the major role of sponges as significant habitat for the diverse macrofauna.

Relationship Between Physicochemical Properties of Water and Chlorophyll a, b at Bandon Bay, Surat Thani Province

Phatcharee Roekngandee — 2024-04-03

The water resources in Ban Don Bay contain high amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus nutrient. Most of these nutrients come from wastewater from surrounding human activities, and they are the primary cause of algal blooms. The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between the concentration of chlorophyll a and b and the physicochemical quality of water at Bandon Bay. Water samples were collected from three stations of the canal mouth including Tha Thong Canal, Ram Canal, and Kradae Canal during the summer and rainy seasons. The result showed that the concentrations of chlorophyll a and b at all three stations during the rainy season (15.23-16.93 and 8.64-9.58 µg/L respectively) were higher than those during the summer season (13.25-13.62 and 7.44-7.91µg/L respectively). The cluster analysis revealed that concentrations of chlorophyll and water quality were divided into two groups by season with a percent similarity of 94.22% and 96.60%, respectively. The Pearson correlation analysis showed that the chlorophyll concentration was correlated with seasonal variations in water quality. The chlorophyll concentration was high during the rainy season when water temperature, pH, salinity, and dissolved oxygen were low, while the nutrient contents including total ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and orthophosphates were high. Although the concentration of chlorophyll in the rainy season was higher than in the summer, the chlorophyll a content indicated that the study area in both seasons was in a eutrophic state or polluted state due to the increase in nutrient and chlorophyll content.

On a Problem of Partitions of ℤ 𝑚 with Identical Representation Functions

Supada Tokrasae — 2024-04-03

For every positive integer 𝑚, ℤ𝑚 represents the set of residue class modulo 𝑚 such that ℤ 𝑚 = {0̄ , 1̄ , 2̄ , . . . , 𝑚 - 1} when 𝑥̄ = {𝑦 ∈ ℤ: 𝑥 ≡ 𝑦(mod 𝑚)}. For 𝐴 ⊆ ℤ𝑚 and 𝑛̄ ∈ ℤ 𝑚, the representation function was defined as

𝑅1(𝐴, 𝑛̄ ) = |{(𝑎̄, 𝑏̄ ) ∈ 𝐴 × 𝐴: 𝑎̄ ⊕ 𝑏̄ = 𝑛̄ }|.

In this paper, we studied Sárközy’s problem in ℤ𝑚 where the two subsets 𝐴 and 𝐵 of ℤ 𝑚 caused |(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵)\(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵)| = 𝑚 - 3 and 𝑅1(𝐴, 𝑛̄ ) = 𝑅1(𝐵, 𝑛̄ ) for all 𝑛̄ ∈ ℤ𝑚.

Properties of Pectin Extracted from Banana Stalk and Implementation as Stabilizer in Phuket Pineapple Salad Dressing

Chanatcha Nuanyai — 2024-04-03

Pectin is a plant-based hydrocolloid that has unique structure and gel-like properties. This research was to evaluate the properties of pectin extracted from banana stalk using 1.5% citric acid and followed by precipitating with 95% ethanol. Then, the extracted pectin was applied in Phuket pineapple salad dressing to increase stability and analyze product quality. The yield percentage of pectin extracted from banana stalk was 10.49 by weight. The methoxyl group content and degree of esterification (%DE) of pectin were 8.86% and 53.89%, respectively. It was revealed that the extracted pectin was classified as the high methoxyl pectin. The effect of pectin extracted from banana stalk at different levels (0%, 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% by weight) on quality of Phuket pineapple salad dressing was studied. It was found that Phuket pineapple salad dressing had lower L^* and b^* values but higher in a^*value when the pectin content increased (p<0.05). The pH and a_w values of the product were found at 4.18 and 0.91, respectively which were classified as high-acid food. Moreover, the pectin fortified product had total acidity 0.8% (w/w). The proximate composition including of moisture, ash, fat, protein, fiber and carbohydrate content was 44.03, 2.65, 8.21, 5.92, 0.01 and 39.19% (w/w), respectively. The energy value of the product was 254 kcal/100 g. The fortification of 3% pectin extracted from banana stalk in Phuket pineapple salad dressing could not only improve the texture but also maintain the stability of the product along 10 weeks storage at 4°C.

The Semantic-Based Image Classification Model Trained for Image Retrieval Using Natural Language

Chakkarin Santirattanaphakdi — 2024-04-03

The objective of this research is to develop a model for image classification based on semantic meaning using pre-trained deep learning models with text and image data, and iterative learning on custom datasets. Evaluation results of the trained models for image retrieval using natural language label were compared against expert-assessed label meanings, revealing that the prediction performance for natural language label under three conditions, namely 1) image descriptive text resembling image label, 2) high-level conceptual text related to the image content, and 3) text describing the qualitative meaning of the image, yielded scores of 0.905, 0.830, and 0.585, respectively. The evaluation results for text describing the qualitative meaning of the image were found to be at a moderate level, as the text in the form of natural language label is considered a high-level concept. Consequently, individual perceptual experiences influenced the evaluation differently based on human cognition principles, as evidenced by the closely aligned prediction results for similar descriptive text for more than one option. Therefore, meaningful image retrieval should emphasize reducing the semantic gap in search queries and assist users by utilizing query terms aligned with image meaning rather than adhering strictly to grammatical language rules. This approach is suggested as a future direction for information retrieval.

Enrichment of Antioxidant Activity in Steamed Cupcakes with Concentrated Dried Longan juice

Saranya Changso — 2024-04-03

The objectives of this research were to investigate the effect of concentrated dried longan juice on the physical, chemical, and sensory properties of steamed cupcakes. Dried longan juice concentrate at 0, 5, 10, and 15% were added. Results showed that increasing the concentration of concentrated dried longan juice tended to increase redness (a*) while decreasing yellowness (b*) and lightness (L*) (p≤0.05). Hardness, gumminess, and chewiness were increased but springiness was decreased when the concentration was increased. Steamed cupcake with 15% concentrated dried longan juice had the highest total phenolic content (1.02 mg.GAE/g) and % DPPH free-radical inhibition (17.89%). Sensory evaluation using 9-point hedonic scales showed that the product with 10% of concentrated dried longan juice had the highest score of overall acceptance. The moisture, protein, fat, carbohydrate, ash, and fiber contents of this steamed cupcake formula were 45.53%, 3.78%, 2.45%, 47.02%, 0.89%, and 0.33%, respectively. Total plate count, and yeast and mold were not found, following the Thai community product standard: Thai desserts (TCPS.1/2552). Consumer acceptance of the product was in the level of moderately-liked to very much-liked level.