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Last Updated: Jun 25th, 2007 - 17:07:26 |
IIUM's Detection Technique Can Help Malaysia Become World Halal Hub
By Nor Dalila Mazid
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- A detection technique for halal-labelled food developed by a team of researchers from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) is expected to contribute to the establishment of a halal centre at the university and help Malaysia become the leading world halal hub.
The six-man team headed by Assoc Prof Dr Abd-el Aziem Farouk Gad, 41, has invented a molecular kit which can detect pork in halal-labelled food and food products.
The use of the molecular kit based on the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for the detection of pork and its by-products and differentiation of meat species could save companies substantial sums of money compared with using the current available techniques, Prof Farouk told Bernama here today.
"The detection kit is 10 times cheaper and it will cost about RM2.50 to determine one food sample under the DNA technique compared with RM25 per sample under the current available techniques," he said.
He said the cost effectiveness of the invention would enable large industries to use it on a few hundred samples in a day.
"There is a lot of halal-labelled food in Malaysia that contains DNA contamination forms, and by using biomarkers, we can detect pork contents and differentiate the animal species in the food."
He said the unique, innovative DNA-based new biomarker could be applied for fast and sensitive detection of porcine ingredients in food isolated by microwave irradiation.
"The basis of the system is to detect certain unique, harmful substances present and the quantity through the PCR method that will allow the identification of the meat, whether it had been slaughtered properly or killed.
"When an animal is slaughtered in the proper way, most of its blood is drained away, thus preventing a build-up of any substance that is harmful for human consumption," he explained.
The research, which took more than 10 years, was conducted on a RM37,000 grant provided by IIUM.
"The molecular systems for halal and haram food detection enable us to differentiate between slaughtered and non-slaughtered meat. The slaughtered meat does not have the harmful substances. We are able to detect that and it's really a big breakthrough," Prof Farouk said.
The breakthrough earned him and his team a gold medal award at the Seoul International Invention Fair 2006 last December.
The team also received a special prize from the Korean International Promotion Association for the halal detection system at the invention fair.
"We cannot compete with Japan, Korea or Germany by making good cars, but we can compete with other countries by utilising minor resources with a bigger solution, and this is what we have done. We believe this research can be beneficial by developing the technology itself and providing Malaysia with intellectual property," Prof Farouk said.
The researchers in the team are Mohamed Faizal Noor Batcha of Malaysia, Ralf Greiner of Germany, and Malaysians Torla Hassan, Hamzah Mohamed Salleh and Ahmad Faris Ismail.
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