Browsing by Author "Kasturiarachchi, J"

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Open Access
Formulation and Sensory Evaluation of a Herbal Tea Using Pomegranate Peel
(Department of Applied Sciences. Faculty of Humanities and Sciences,SLIIT, 2025-10-10) Perera, S.; Kasturiarachchi, J; Mathangadeera, R.
This study evaluates the sensory attributes and physicochemical properties of pomegranate peel-based herbal tea formulations to determine the most acceptable blend. Sensory evaluation was conducted with a semi-trained panel (n=36) using a 9-point hedonic scale to assess aroma, brew colour, taste, astringency, aftertaste, and overall acceptability across five formulations. Statistical analysis using the Friedman test indicated significant differences in sensory acceptability among formulations (p < 0.001). Formulation 567, containing a blend of pomegranate peel powder (PPP), lemongrass powder (LP), ginger powder (GP), and cinnamon powder (CP), exhibited the highest acceptability. In addition, a comparison was made between herbal teas prepared using pomegranate peel powder and those made with coarse pomegranate peel to identify the differences and determine which is most preferred. The findings suggest that formulation 567 offers an optimal balance of sensory qualities, supporting its potential for commercial herbal tea development. This study contributes valuable insights into the utilisation of pomegranate peel waste in functional beverage formulations.
Open Access
In Silico Analysis of the Diversity of DPYD Gene Variants Aff ecti ng Fluoropyrimidine Toxicity: A Comparison of South Asians with Other World Populati ons
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2024-12-04) Perera, N; Weerasinghe, M; Kasturiarachchi, J; Ranasinghe, P
Fluoropyrimidine (FP) chemotherapy drug is uti lized to treat colon, head, neck and breast cancers. Apart from its eff ecti veness, toxicity is a limitati on. DPD (dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase) enzyme, which aids in the FP metabolism is produced by the highly polymorphic DPYD gene. Mutati ons in the DPYD gene cause the defi ciency or non-functi onality of the DPD enzyme which varies among diff erent populati ons. This research aimed to compare allele frequencies of common DPYD gene variants of South Asians (SAS) such as DPYD*2A(rs3918290), DPYD*9(rs1801265), DPYD*5, rs2297595, DPYD*6, rs17376848, rs56038477, DPYD*4(rs1801158), rs67376798 and rs75017182 with Africans (AFR), Amish (AMI), Lati n Americans (AMR), Ashkenazi Jewish (ASJ), East Asians (EAS), Finnish (FIN) and Non-Finnish (NFE). Allele frequencies were obtained from the Genome Aggregati on Database in the PharmGKB database. Χ² analysis was performed. p<0.05 was deemed to be stati sti cally signifi cant. The study found a signifi cant diff erence between the SAS populati on and AFR, AMR, ASJ, EAS, FIN and NFE populati ons for the DPYD*9A gene variant, except for the AMI populati on. The distributi on of the DPYD*2A gene variant of SAS was found to be signifi cant in the AFR, ASJ, FIN and NFE populati ons, except for AMR and AMI. The prevalence of DPYD*5, DPYD*6, rs17376848, and rs56038477 in the SAS signifi cantly diff ered from all above-menti oned populati ons. The distributi on of the rs75017182 gene variant in SAS has shown signifi cant diff erences with AFR, AMR, ASJ and EAS except for NFE and FIN. This study highlights the variati ons in pharmacogenomics data specifi c to populati ons that could lead to personalized medicine and the need for DPYD genotyping before cancer treatment, especially in SAS communiti es where clinically signifi cant geneti c variati ons and haplotypes occur. Study fi ndings pinpoint the potenti al contributi on of DPYD gene variati ons to individual variability in anti -cancer dosage requirements among SAS.
Open Access
Optimization of In-vitro Callus Inducti on and Cell Suspension Cultures of Gyrinops walla for Commercialization
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2024-12-04) Benaragama, R; Balasooriya, J; Yapa, C; Nonis, S; Athukorala, D; Kasturiarachchi, J
Gyrinops walla (G.walla), oft en referred to as ‘Walla Patt a’ in Sinhala, is an indigenous, economically important plant renowned for its producti on of agarwood, which is a highly valuable resin having high economical, religious and traditi onal values. G. walla trees take 5-7 years on average to grow naturally before being inoculated to produce resin. In-vitro callus culture approach will shorten the agarwood resin producti on process signifi cantly and be important for the industry. However, ti ssue culture methods are challenging due to explant contaminati on and low rate of callus producti on. Therefore, this study aims to opti mize the conditi ons for surface sterilizati on and enhance in-vitro callus inducti on from leaf explants, with the objecti ve of advancing the development of cell suspension cultures for commercializati on. The experiment for surface sterilizati on and callus inducti on was conducted using leaf explants obtained from two G.walla mother plants, a home garden plant and a wild plant. The results suggested that 100 mg/L silver nitrate (AgNO3) and Dett ol provide a bett er surface sterilizati on for callus producti on, especially in explants from a home garden mother plant exhibiti ng a low contaminati on rate (31%) compared to explants from wild plants (80%). Also, explants from home garden mother plant possessed bett er callus inducti on (65%) compared to explants from wild mother plants (13%). Furthermore, this study suggests that AgNO3 can be used as an alternati ve for hazardous chemicals such as mercuric chloride (HgCl2), which is commonly applied in surface sterilizati on and, introducing ground callus to suspension cultures will yield an improved callus proliferati on in suspension cultures.
Open Access
A Study on Anti bacterial Properti es of Costus speciosus
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2024-12-04) Wijesekara, A; Lanka Kumari, S.R. M. M.; Kasturiarachchi, J
Anti bioti c resistant bacteria have posed a serious threat to world health in recent years, forcing the investi gati on of alternate sources for anti bacterials. Higher plants are a key source of medicinal compounds. The objecti ve of this study was to evaluate the anti bacterial properti es of C. speciosus against gram-negati ve E. coli and gram-positi ve Staphylococcus aureus, to explore its potenti al as a natural alternati ve to conventi onal anti bioti cs. Leaves, stems, and rhizomes of C. speciosus were extracted using hexane, methanol, and water as solvents with refl ux, sonicati on and macerati o. Anti bacterial acti vity was assessed using the disk diff usion assay, with gentamycin as a positi ve control. The stemmethanolic extract showed greater inhibiti on against both organisms compared to hexane extracts. Stemwater extracts were eff ecti ve only against S. aureus. The rhizome-methanolic extract inhibited E. coli more than S. aureus, while the hexane extract was more eff ecti ve against S. aureus. The rhizome-water extract inhibited the growth of both bacterial strains. Leaf extracts demonstrated signifi cant inhibiti on against E. coli but no acti vity against S. aureus. This study shows that C. speciosus has signifi cant anti bacterial properti es, varying with plant part, solvent, and organism. Given the rise in anti bioti cresistant bacteria, C. speciosus is a promising natural source of anti bacterial agents.