Maldives National Journal of Research
The Maldives National Journal of Research (MNJR) is a research journal of the Maldives National University published by the Postgraduate Research Centre. MNJR is a multidisciplinary journal of research in all disciplines relevant to the Maldives. Although in the coming years, it is expected that this journal will evolve into specialist journals in various disciplines, the first one is generalist in nature. The journal publishes research articles, literature reviews, book reviews, comments, opinion and perspectives.
Browse
5 results
Search Results
Item Assessment of trans-fats in the Maldivian diet(Research Development Office, The Maldives National University, 2022-12-01) Abdul Raheem, Raheemaa; Naila, Aishath; Ismail, Aishath Shaheen; Kasturi, Kamal; ރަހީމާ އަބްދުއްރަހީމް; އައިޝަތު ނައިލާ; އައިޝަތު ޝާހީން އިސްމާއީލް; ކަމާލް ކަސްޓަރިItem Application of food preservatives and food additives in making Maldivian food products(Maldives National University, 2021-07) Zuha, Mariyam; Shareef, Mohamed Simyaan; Naila, AishathFood additives play a huge role in food safety and development of various food products. Stabilizers are one of the food additives which help in increasing the stability as well as the viscosity of the food products. Stabilizers are found in almost all of the dairy products, desserts and many beverages. In addition, food colours are added to different types of foods to increase shelf life, visual attractiveness and to compensate for natural colour variations. Food dyes utilized in colouring mostly come from natural or artificial sources. The objectives of this study were to produce coconut ice cream using agar-agar stabilizer, conduct a sensory evaluation by a panel of 20 people using Likert scale to see the acceptability of the ice cream. Parameters like melting time and the presence of air bubbles were observed after freezing of the ice cream. Based on the sensory evaluation, for the overall acceptance of the ice cream a score of 9 was given. The results showed that it had a melt run of 130s/g and many air bubbles were formed before and after freezing. In the second part, a traditional Maldivian sweet known as “Ulhaali”was produced by adding beetroot extract into its key ingredient coconut honey or “Dhiyaa hakuru”, and ran a sensory evaluation of the product by a group of 15 participants, in terms of colour, aroma and taste, in order to draw a conclusion regarding the acceptability of the addition of the natural food colourant into the Maldivian sweet. Factors such as the colour retention was observed before and after frying. From the results obtained for the sensory evaluation, the product was highly accepted by the participants as all three descriptors received scores of 8.5 and above out of 10, and after addressing the limitations, the success of the study was rather high.Item Salt content of processed food products available in Dh. Kudahuvadhoo, Maldives(Research Development Office, The Maldives National University, 2020-12) Muneer, Aishath; Zoona, Fathimath; Naila, AishathSome of the processed food are junk food which are unhealthy when consumed in excess amount. Commonly used junk food include fast food, chips, candy, gum, sweets, desserts as well as fizzy drinks. These food types consist of salt, sugar, fat and are high in calories. Junk food are easy to make and are easily accessible for consumption making this the main reason people use junk food even though it is not healthy. Consumption of salty junk food regularly increases the amount of salt intake which is undesirable for a healthy life. High amount of salt intake increases blood pressure and other adverse effect to health. A market survey at Dh. Kudahuvadhoo grocery shops (5 shops) was conducted. A convenient sampling was used to collect 30 processed food products. Nutritional values of these products were recorded and analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2016. The salt levels in the products were compared to that of WHO recommended level of salt (< 5g/day). The highest amount of salt among the 30 items was found in Amexicana flour tortillas (2.6g salts per 100g). Cotton candy had zero amount of salt. The mean value of salt in the 30 types of food products was 0.324 g. The salt content processed food products varied, by types, production company, and the country of the production. Although the amount of salt was less than the WHO recommendation level in the selected junk food, daily meals, and intake in high quantity may lead to exceed the WHO recommended level of salt intake.Item Editorial(The Research Centre, Maldives National University, 2019-12) Naila, AishathItem Production of lip balm from stingless bee honey(Maldives National Journal of Research, 2018-06) Yusof, Atuyah Athirah Binti; Ajit, Azilah B.; Sulaiman, Ahmad Z.; Naila, AishathIndia Cosmetics is used daily by majority of the people worldwide. Nowadays, consumer demand for natural based product cosmetics as they are safe to use and environmentally friendly. Lip balm is a cosmetic or lip care product whose purpose is to prevent dry and chapped lips. The quality of lip balm is directly linked with the basic ingredients used in the formulation. This work involved the formulation of lip balm from natural ingredients. Various composition of beeswax, shea butter, stingless bee honey, oils and colorant were studied to obtain the best formulation. Stingless bee honey was added to the lip balm formulation as moisturizing agent. The physico-chemical properties of the formulations were determined including melting point, stability, moisture content, color intensity, sensory test for human acceptance and microbial test. From the results, the formulation of lip balm from beeswax, shea butter and oil with ratio 1:1:1 was the best formulation. It has high melting point and has stable condition in low and room temperature. The presence of honey in the formulation assisted to increase the moisture content in the lip balm. Besides that, for color intensity, natural colorant from fruit juice and extraction contributed the color to the lip balm but the color intensity was lower compared to powder colorant. Lastly, the formulation of lip balm from beeswax, shea butter and oil with ratio of 1:1:1 met the consumer acceptance as the highest sensory test score was obtained for this formulation.