COLLABORATORY RESEARCH PROJECTS:
MACEWAN PHYSICAL SCIENCES
Dr. Samuel Mugo
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Listen to Nature, Learn from Nature
“Being ‘less bad’
is no good.”
The world will not evolve past its current state of crisis by using the same
thinking that created the situation.
-Albert Einstein
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Collaboratory Research Project
Themes
FATS and OILs
Value added
Green Products
U of A: Dr
Curtis
Natural Products
Profiling
Bioactive,
sensory,
antioxidants,
allelopathic
compounds
Dr. Njenga, Dr
Mellisa Hills
Novel Analytical
Platforms for
Environmental
and Food
monitoring
On-site
integrated
sampling
techniques
ARDN
Hormones and
AntibioticsNSERC project
Destroy
antibiotics in
cattle manure: use
it as fertilizer
Dr. Withey,
Highmark
FATS and OILs
Oils and fats: Most
important renewable
materials. Exploit
carboxylate chemistry
Transformations
(natural catalysts)
Green Products
Wax esters,
Structured lipids,
Biodiesel,
Natural Products
Profiling
Bioactive,
sensory,
antioxidants,
allelopathic
compounds
Natural Products: Antioxidants
-If you keep food for a long time on shelf they go bad: Preserve
TIME
Natural antioxidants:
Synthetic antioxidants:
Quercetin-3-glucoside
Safety (Carcinogenic)
Concerns?
No harmful physiological effects
Not Fat-soluble (mainly hydrophilic)
Economical
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Antioxidants (polyphenolics) From Herbal Plants
More effective than BHT and BHA
Rosemary (Rosmarinus
Officinalis L.): Common spice
widely used in food processing
Obtained by extraction with
ethanol/methanol fraction
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Yanishlineva et al. Eur. J. Lipid. Technol. 108(2006): 776
Antioxidants (polyphenolics) From Herbal Plants
Oregano (Oreganum Vulgare L.)
antimicrobial and antioxidant
properties
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Yanishlineva et al. Eur. J. Lipid. Technol. 108(2006): 776
Herbal Plants and Spices of Interest
Plants from:
Strychnos heningsii (muteta)
Cure and Prophylaxis of arthritis
Botany Depart: JKUAT
(KENYA)
Ixora
scheffleri
K.Schum
Compounds to look for with
antioxidant activity:
flavonols,
flavonoids,
isoflavones,
diterpenes and
phenolic acids
Clausena anisata
Tamarindus indica.
(Give herbal preparations sweet smell)
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Concomitant study of the secondary Metabolites
Our research
Figure 1. Myrianthus Hostii, an
East African Herbal Plant
Often taken as a concoction for
myriad remedies
 Seeds used to treat boils, bark
decoction for lowering sugar level
Used in the management of flu and cold; antimicrobial
Piper capense
Characterization of active compounds makes their use safer!
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Natural Products
Aloe Vera
allelopathic
compounds
Bioactive and sensory compounds
Novel Analytical Platforms for Environmental
and Food monitoring
MUGO-Rural Alberta Water Quality Monitoring: concept map
In House Developed microbore microextractors
Drinking water
from tap
Onsite microbore
microextractor
Different types of polymer in different morphologies
entrained in the microbore to extract the contaminant
Online couple to
GC-MS
(trihalomethanes,
volatile compounds)
Online couple to ICP or AAS
(heavy metal analysis)
Elute to LC-MS
(polyromatic
hydrocarbons,
EDCs)
CHEMOMETRICs (DR. KAREN BURO
Using statistical tools to quickly interpret complex data quickly acquired by Fourier
Transform Spectroscopic Methods: FTIR and RAMAN
Adulteration in Foods
 Case of Melamine tainted Milk, cat food etc.
Nitrate tainted milk
Trans Fats in Cookies
Olive oil spiked with Canola oil
NSERC-funded research on hormones and antibiotics
Project: Development of a novel, practical approach for the detection, trac
destruction of antibiotics and hormones in animal biowaste
Collaborative project with Highmark Renewables Research, and part of the
bioWaste to Energy for Canada Integration Initiative (BECii)
Currently funded by a two-year $200,000 NSERC CCI grant
Method development taking place entirely at the MacEwan campus, utilizin
start-of-art instrumentation and dedicated research space acquired as par
new baccalaureate degree programs
Project involves two MacEwan faculty members, one post-doctoral researc
associate, and employs four undergraduate students as research assistan
year.
Equipment Infrastructure
GC-MS
LC
LCQ Fleet ion trap
MSn
Dual-laser Raman spectrometer (3 cm-1)
with optical microscope
We service clients off-campus for a reasonable fee
FT-IR
Atomic absorption spectrometry
400 MHz NMR
spectrometer
iCAP (inductively coupled plasma spectroscop
We service clients off-campus for a reasonable fee
Challenges/opportunities
Students Training Opportunity: Karl ayton, Alex Cerezo, Samuel Langman, Linh
Tran, Jennifer, Lauren, Patrick, Merrill Singleton etc.
We are collaboration crazy! It is the way to go
Money- Getting access to money from other funding agencies (NSERC, ARDN,
Canola growers Association, CIDA, CHIR, AACTI, AIF etc.