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UMT receives HPLC instruments, to offer honey testing services

UMT receives HPLC instruments, to offer honey testing services

Monday, 13/12/2021

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Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) has received from the state government a set of scientific instruments that enables testing of liquid mixture purity.

The High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) instruments, which are equipped with the latest technology, are placed at UMT’s Field and Research Service Centre, and will be used to verify the purity of bee and stingless bee honey.

Stingless bee farming industry has been rapidly expanding due to increased market demand for honey, which is known to contain high nutrition.

The Honourable Tengku Seri Bijaya Raja Datuk Tengku Farok Hussin Tengku Abdul Jalil, Terengganu State Secretary, said that the HPLC instruments are scientific tools for analysing the level of purity of honey.

“Based on the Terengganu socioeconomic report for 2016-2019, around 39,000 of Terengganu residents were placed under the category of skilled workers in agriculture and animal farming, with 6% growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the agriculture sector.

“The state government is aware that some groups need to be given special attention, such as the group of Terengganu bee farmers and pure bee and stingless honey entrepreneurs.

“Therefore, the state government has agreed to approve fund for the purchase of HPLC instruments in an attempt to solve issues regarding the purity of honey, with the aim of taking the honey industry towards the global market that promises high returns to the community and industry players in Terengganu.

Meanwhile, UMT Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Mazlan Abd Ghaffar considered the contribution from the state government as a symbol of recognition towards UMT.

“UMT is grateful, as the availability of the HPLC facility at UMT will enable its use by the researchers, students, industry partners, and local community, for the purpose of verifying the purity of honey. I would like to take this opportunity to express many thanks to the state government for the contribution.

“HPLC that is equipped with Refractive Index Detector (RID) can help detect simple sugar in honey, such as sucrose, fructose, maltose, and glucose. The presence of   Hydroxymethylfurfural compound and phenolic compound in honey is used as the measuring stick for verifying the purity of honey.

“If simple sugar in specific high concentration is discovered in honey, it can be concluded that the honey is not pure honey, with sugar or artificial sweetener added.

“It is hoped that the cooperation between UMT and the state government will continue will into the future, and that it will pave the way for more research at the university, for the sake of the development of Terengganu specifically and Malaysia generally,” Professor Mazlan said.

 

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Corporate Communications Office

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu