| ABSTRACT |
Rice (Oryzae sativa) is an essential grain in the world and in Malaysia. In 2008, Malaysia has been produced 2,384,000 tons of rice to fulfill the 70% of nation requirement. Committantly, it also produces a huge amount of paddy straw. For every 1 tons of harvested grains, 1.35 tons of paddy straw was produced. However, in Malaysia, the paddy straw produced is still under-utilized and the common practice to clear the paddy field for the next season is by burning. The practice has raised some concerns, as the air pollution, greenhouse effects and furthermore, environmental issue is an important economic hindrance. Salient and important compounds may be generated from the straw. They are organic compounds and acids. One of them is ferulic acid.
Ferulic acid (3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-propenoic acid ) is the potent and predominant agent for free radical based on its high degree of conjugated unsaturation in the compound . It is widely distributed in the cell wall to initiate the lignin formation and furthermore, to support the plant growth. However, the potential of ferulic acid in the paddy straw was not widely exploited. The potential of ferulic acid as a radical in-activator is highlighted.
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