University of Peradeniya

About: University of Peradeniya is a education organization based out in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 5970 authors who have published 7388 publications receiving 197002 citations.

Chemical composition and health benefits of coconut oil : an overview

Abstract: Coconut oil is an integral part of Sri Lankan and many South Asian diets. Initially, coconut oil was classified along with saturated fatty acid food items and criticized for its negative impact on health. However, research studies have shown that coconut oil is a rich source of medium-chain fatty acids. Thus, this has opened new prospects for its use in many fields. Beyond its usage in cooking, coconut oil has attracted attention due to its hypocholesterolemic, anticancer, antihepatosteatotic, antidiabetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and skin moisturizing properties. Despite all the health benefits, consumption of coconut oil is still underrated due to a lack of supportive scientific evidence. Even though studies done in Asian countries claim a favorable impact on cardiac health and serum lipid profile, the limitations in the number of studies conducted among Western countries impede the endorsement of the real value of coconut oil. Hence, long-term extensive studies with proper methodologies are suggested to clear all the controversies and misconceptions of coconut oil consumption. This review discusses the composition and functional properties of coconut oils extracted using various processing methods. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Trace elements in native and improved paddy rice from different climatic regions of Sri Lanka: implications for public health.

Abstract: Samples of 226 new improved and 21 indigenous rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties were collected from the rice fields in three climatic zones of Sri Lanka and concentrations of 18 trace elements (Li, B, Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Sr, Mo, Cd, Ba, Pb and Bi) were measured giving particular emphasis on Se, Cd and As using ICP-MS. The two way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) method was employed to identify the differences in composition among rice from different climatic zones. The mean values obtained for both white and red rice were Se (36; 25 µg/kg), As (42; 45 µg/kg) and Cd (70; 123 µg/kg) on dry weight basis. However mean content of Se, As and Cd of native rice varieties were 69, 74 and 33 µg/kg, respectively. Statistical interpretations showed that in the majority of cases, there was a significant difference in Cd content among climatic zones whereas Se and Pb show differences between white and red rice varieties. Arsenic did not indicate any significant difference either between rice types or among climatic regions. Notably Se and As contents in indigenous rice were higher than that of improved rice types. To assess the safety of dietary of intake, daily intake of Se, Cd and As by rice were calculated. Non-gender specific Estimated Daily Intake (EDI) of Se, Cd and As consuming improved rice are 9.31, 24.1 and 12.2 µg day−1, respectively. Since over 50 % of daily meals of people contain rice or rice based products, Se intake is expected to be deficient among the Sri Lankan population.

Comparison of phenolic content and antioxidant activities of millet varieties grown in different locations in Sri Lanka

Abstract: Soluble and bound phenolic compounds were extracted from different varieties of millet types namely, finger millet, foxtail, and proso millet cultivated at dry and intermediate climatic zones in Sri Lanka. The extracts were examined for their total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and proanthocyanidin content (PC). The antioxidant activities were meassured by reducing power (RP), trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, ferrous ion chelating ability (FICA), and using a β carotene linoleate model system. The ferulic acid content of extracts were determined using high-performance liquid chromatoghraphy (HPLC). Finger millet showed the highest phenolic content and antioxidant activities compared to proso and foxtail millets. The phenolic content as well as antioxidant activites of soluble and bound phenolic extracts of millets were affected by variety and cultivated location. The highest phenolic content and antioxidant activites were reported for millet samples cultivated in areas belonging to the dry zone in Sri Lanka.

Relative frequency of odontogenic tumors in Sri Lanka: Analysis of 1677 cases.

Abstract: Odontogenic tumors (OTs) constitute a heterogeneous group of lesions with diverse histopathological features and clinical manifestations. The present study is to determine the frequency of odontogenic tumors (OTs) in Sri Lankan population. A total of 1677 cases of OTs were retrieved and analyzed for age, gender and primary site of the tumors. Cases were re-classified according to the 2005 WHO classification of OTs. The relative frequency of different types of tumors was also analyzed and compared with the literature. OTs represent 3.75% of all cases received during a period of 30 years. Ninety-eight percent of these tumors were benign and the rest malignant. Mandible to maxilla ratio is 2.8:1. The posterior part, the molar region, is the most frequently affected site for the mandible whilst it is the anterior region for the maxilla. The age ranges from 1 to 80 years, with a mean age of 30.6 years. Ameloblastoma of solid/multicystic and unicystic types showed a high preponderance for the mandible (>90%) with a ratio of 12.9:1 and 10.8:1, respectively. Out of 1677 cases, 48.7% were ameloblastoma, and other tumors, such as keratocystic odontogenic tumor (KCOT) and odontoma, were 25.7% and 10.1%, respectively. There is a significant change in the frequency of OTs after the inclusion of odontogenic keratocyst as a tumor. Although odontoma is said to be the commonest in western countries, our results showed ameloblastoma as the commonest followed by KCOT, and the relative frequencies of different tumors have changed significantly as a result of inclusion of KCOT in the new classification.

Optimization and Analysis of Wireless Powered Multi-Antenna Cooperative Systems

Abstract: In this paper, we consider a three-node cooperative wireless powered communication system consisting of a multi-antenna hybrid access point (H-AP) and a single-antenna relay and a single-antenna user. The energy constrained relay and user first harvest energy in the downlink and then the relay assists the user using the harvested power for information transmission in the uplink. The optimal energy beamforming vector and the time split between harvest and cooperation are investigated. To reduce the computational complexity, suboptimal designs are also studied, where closed-form expressions are derived for the energy beamforming vector and the time split. For comparison purposes, we also present a detailed performance analysis in terms of the achievable outage probability and the average throughput of an intuitive energy beamforming scheme, where the H-AP directs all the energy towards the user. The findings of the paper suggest that implementing multiple antennas at the H-AP can significantly improve the system performance, and the closed-form suboptimal energy beamforming vector and time split yields near optimal performance. Also, for the intuitive beamforming scheme, a diversity order of $\frac {N+1}{2}$ can be achieved, where $N$ is the number of antennas at the H-AP.