TS

The Oil Palm Agronomy Centre (OPAC) aims to help oil palm growers in obtaining the optimum economic fresh fruit bunch (FFB) yields through practicing the good agricultural practices (GAP) and applying appropriate balanced fertilisers. Hence, OPAC will systematically provide services on agronomic practices and proper fertilisation recommendations based on the foliar, soil and fertiliser analyses. … Read more

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzo furans (PCDFs), collectively known as dioxins are major persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that are found widely all over the world. Centres for Disease Control has classified this chemical compound as toxic, stable, do not break down easily and ubiquitously presence in the environmental and food matrices. Figure 1 shows the chemical structures of dioxin and furan. Dioxins are … Read more

In Malaysia, crude palm oil (CPO) and crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) are the main feedstock for the production of a wide variety of palm-based derivatives for both food and non-food applications including oleochemicals. These derivatives are widely used in the production of candles, cosmetics, soap, lubricants, grease, agrochemicals, etc. There are a number of fatty acids produced from palm kernel oil. One of … Read more

In Malaysia, glyphosate is a commonly used herbicide in oil palm plantation to control broad-leaved weeds and grasses. However, herbicides usage may have adverse effects on human if presence in food products. Therefore, a reliable method has to be developed to detect and quantify glyphosate residue in crude palm oil, to safeguard public health. Glyphosate (Figure 1) is the common name for [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine] C3 H8 NO5 P. Roundup, … Read more

Insecticides are used in the oil palm plantation to control insect pests. Insecticides such as cypermethrin are commonly used to treat bagworms, nettle caterpillars and rhinoceros beetles. The use of pesticides in oil palm plantations has resulted in a growing concern for the presence and danger of the residues in the environment. A method has been developed to monitor leaching and the persistence … Read more

Volatile organic compounds (VOC) in consumer products are potential health and environmental hazards. Furthermore, an abundance of VOC were released from home and personal care products, building materials and transportation including car seat foams. Therefore, VOC need to be determined to ensure the products are safe for public use. Main Research: Mohd Azmil Mohd Nor

Aprotoplast is a single cell without cell wall and only has plasma membrane to protect the cell. This property helps the protoplast to easily take up foreign macromolecules such as DNA and has been used since 1974 for transient and stable transformation of many plant species. Protoplast transient gene expression system is well-known as an easy, rapid, safe and efficient system, particularly via polyethylene … Read more

The goal of the Malaysian Oil Palm Genome Programme (MyOPGP) is to produce gold standard references of the E. guineensis (EG) and E. oleifera (EO) genomes, which have a genome size of ~1.8 Gb. The sequences of both of these species, EG and EO and the shell gene were recently published in two back-to-back landmark publications in the prestigious journal – Nature (Singh et … Read more

Makmal Sitogenetik MPOB has transferred several services as follows: PORIM TT No. 49 (1998). Chromosome Painting in Oil Palm Hybrids  Genomic in situ hybridisation (GISH) method was developed to distinguish between oleifera and guineensis chromosomes. Hence, this is a useful method for oil palm breeders to assess the genome composition of backcrosses and oil palm hybrids. MPOB TS No. 18 (2007). Flow … Read more

Interest in eco-friendly and sustainable agricultural practices using biological approach have increased rapidly with considerable success. However, extensive use of chemical fertilisers has led to environmental problems such as soil degradation, water pollution and emission of greenhouse gases. Environmental pollution has increased rapidly in the recent years, especially soil and groundwater contamination. Hence, it is vital to determine the concentration of contaminant rapidly and precisely, in … Read more