| Universiti Putra Malaysia

Meat tenderising product based on pineapple core crowned as winner in New Product Launch Day

By: Noor Eszereen Juferi

 

SERDANG, 15 May – A 3-in-1 pineapple-based meat tenderiser product produced by Z & F Enterprise group, a group of final year students of Bachelor of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), won in New Product Launch Day.

 

The group leader, Muhammad Zakwan Mohamad Zakaria, said that the idea came about as a result of their awareness of uncontrollable food waste these days.

 

“We took the initiatives to use leftover ingredients to produce food products that could bring benefits, and we became interested in the content of the enzyme found in a pineapple core”, he said.

 

According to him, further research carried out indicated that the enzyme in a pineapple core has the potential to tenderise meat.

 

 “We have also collaborated with the Malaysian Nuclear Agency to irritate our product as bromelain enzyme is sensitive towards heat. As such, we have to search for alternatives to preserve and protect the enzyme”, he added.

 

The Z & F Enterprise group consists of Nurul Syazana Hanini Mohd Tarmizi, Tsuwaibatul Aslamiyah Jamalullai, Aiza Nur Batrisyia Zaina Abidin, Chan Mei Theng, Chan Tze Xin, Nor Sharmin Sazali, Anis Amilia Fatini Mohd Kamal, Ahmad Irfan Ahmad Zaidi and Nur Aqilah Mat Sharif. They won RM400 cash prize and hampers.

 

The competition provided opportunities for Food Science and Technology students to embrace the process of developing new products that have the potential to be commercialised. A total of eight new products using diverse technologies were introduced which include jackfruit seeds, palm oil milk, spinach, corn and desiccated coconut. - UPM

 

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