There has been a growing concern on the rising of environmental issues in Malaysia over the last decade. Many environmental studies conducted in this country began to utilise the chemometrics techniques to overcome the limitation in the environmental monitoring studies. Chemometrics becomes an important tool in environmental fields to evaluate the relationship of various environmental variables particularly in a large and complex database. The review aimed to analyse and summarize the current evidences and limitations on the application of chemometrics techniques in the environmental studies in Malaysia. The study performed a comprehensive review of relevant scientific journals concerning on the major environmental issues in the country, published between 2013 and 2017. A total of 29 papers which focused on the environmental issues were reviewed. Available evidences suggested that chemometrics techniques have a greater accuracy, flexibility and efficiency to be applied in environmental modelling. It also reported that chemometrics techniques are more practical for cost effective and time management in sampling and monitoring purposes. However, chemometrics is relatively new in environmental field in Malaysia and various scopes need to be considered in the future as the current studies focused on very limited number of major environmental issues. Overall, chemometrics techniques have a lot of advantages in solving environmental problems. The development of chemometrics in environmental studies in the country is necessary to advance understanding, thus able to produce more significant impacts towards the effective environmental management.

This study was implemented to identify the specific factors that lead to major contribution of floods in Klang River Basin. A thirty-year (1987-2017) database obtained from Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), the selected data was analyzed by using integrated Chemometric techniques. The finding from Correlation Analysis revealed strong correlation between stream flow and water level is more than 0.5 (= 0.799). The finding from Principal Component Analysis proved that the selected parameters were significant with the result of R2 > 0.7was applied as a main tool for further analysis. Based on the result, it revealed that stream flow and water level were the most significant hydrological factor that influenced flood risk pattern in Klang River basin. Based on the result from Statistical Process control (SPC), the finding showed that the Upper Control Limit (UCL) for water level was 30.290m. The plotted data which is more than 30.290 m can cause flood to occur in Klang River Basin. Thus, it is very important to continuously monitor and maintain the mitigation measure of flood in the study area to avoid flood to occur. This study also helps to provide visualization of flood pattern and show the optimal rates for the maximum limit for flood control in Klang River Basin.

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In this communication, anthocyanin-loaded dextran nanoparticles from Clitoria ternatea was synthesized and characterized to test its anti-proliferative activity on the human HepG2 liver cancer cell lines. By using dextran as an encapsulant polymer, the nanoparticles appeared to be spherical, with an average size of 45.5 ± 11 nm. The surface charge of the anthocyanin-loaded dextran nanoparticle was -4.39 mV, which slightly relative to free anthocyanin (-4.46 mV), which indicate good dispersion stabilities. The Fourier transform infrared analysis showed that the anthocyanins from C. ternatea was successfully encapsulated in dextran nanoparticles. Overall, the percentage of drug encapsulation efficiency was 3.03%. Based on the stability test, the anthocyanin-loaded dextran nanoparticle showed significantly better color stability index compared to free anthocyanin, particularly at the presence of light and temperature of 37°C and 50°C. In the anti-proliferation assay on HepG2 liver cancer cell lines, the viability of the cancer cells was significantly reduced after treatment with the anthocyanin-loaded dextran nanoparticle. The anti-proliferation activities of the nanoparticles were significantly better than free anthocyanin. Our findings revealed the ability of the anthocyanin-loaded dextran nanoparticle, in particular from C. ternatea, as an effective anti-proliferative agent against cancer cells. Nanoencapsulation with dextran significantly improve the efficacy and stability of the anthocyanins. Further investigations should be done to evaluate the in vivo efficacy.

Hordeum vulgare L. (Barley) is an ancient and essential cereal grain crop with the claim that it has the potential to reduce cholesterol level and to lower oxidation activity in the liver.However, it hasn’t been proven scientifically. Hence,this study was conducted to investigate the total phenolic content (TPC), total antioxidant activity (TAC) and liver peroxidation activity of barley aqueous and ethanol extractas well as assess the effect of ethanol extract on cholesterol level of high-fat diet rats. TAC of barley extract was determined by using ABTS (2,2-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt) assay andDPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical) assay. Meanwhile, Total Phenolic Content TPCwas determined by Folin-Ciocalteu assay. Atotal of 15 Sprague Dawley rats were tested for the lowering cholesterol properties in barley and its association with lipid peroxidation product (Melondialdhyhe level) by adding the barley into their daily diet. The result indicated that TAC and TPC value of ethanol barley extract was high. Barley ethanol extracts effectively lowering cholesterol level in Sprague Dawley rats. Meanwhile, the malondialdehyde level in the liver tissue was a significant difference between the high-fat diet group of rats and the high-fat diet group of rats treated with ethanol barley extract. Conclusion, ethanol barley extract possess more phenolic content, antioxidant component and reducing cholesterol level of high-fat diet rats.