Beef is one of the essential sources of protein in human diet. But retail beef are easily contaminated with pathogenic bacteria and can cause foodborne disease. To determine the bacterial contamination, 45 samples of retail beef including imported beef (n = 24) and local beef (n = 21) were collected from selected wet markets at every district in Selangor. Samples were analyzed for total viable counts (TVC), Escherichia coli, Enterobacteriaceae and the incidence of pathogenic bacteria which are Salmonella spp. and E. coli O157:H7. Overall results showed that all beef samples (n = 45) were positive for TVC and Enterobacteriaceae at an average reading of (mean ± SD) 7.05±0.78 log CFU/g and 5.05±0.87 log CFU/g, respectively. Only 53.3% of the total samples were contaminated with E. coli (4.22±0.60 log CFU/g) whereas only 24.4% of total samples were found to be positive with Salmonella spp. All bacterial count readings fall under the marginal category based on the international standards. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in microbial counts between the local and imported beef samples for all parameters. Among the E. coli isolates detected from the beef samples, 3 isolates were identified as E. coli O157:H7. In conclusion, meat safety level for the retail beef sold at wet markets in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur is low and requires more attention from the authorities to ensure its microbiological safety for consumers.

Centella asiatica is one of the vital plant sources of antioxidants properties for consumption or medicinal purposes. This study aimed to determine the effect of three different drying methods (freeze drying, oven drying and dehydration drying) on the antioxidant of leaves of C. asiatica. The antioxidant properties and IC50 value of different concentration of methanolic extract solution (0.5 mg/ml, 0.25 mg/ml, 0.125 mg/ml and 0.062 mg/ml), were evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The drying conditions and time required for freeze drying, oven drying and dehydration drying were -45°C for 3 days, 60°C for 5 hours and 35-43°C within 1-3 hours, respectively. Samples with lower IC50 value showed a stronger antioxidant activity since low IC50 determine the efec. The freeze-dried of C. asiatica sample at 0.05 mg/ml concentration exhibited the highest scavenging activity (93.97 ± 0.45%) with the lowest IC50 value (0.05 mg/ml) whereas the lowest scavenging activity was shown by dehydration dried of C. asiatica sample at 0.05 mg/ml concentration (55.08 ± 0.03%) with the highest IC50 value (0.36 mg/ml). This indicates that as the concentration increases, the radical scavenging activity increases. Thus, it is highly recommended to use freeze drying as the method to conserve the maximum amount of antioxidant properties in C. asiatica leaves.