Stage : Cleaning n Drying

Location: roadside, Bayan Highway, Penang

Guest: Prof Neils Jacobsen

Specialization: Cryptocoryne sp.

hye guys, hope u all doing great!

just got back from Tasik Temenggor yesterday (only a day trip). helped ma colleague collecting her water samples for water quality research at some of the spots around d island of Banding, Perak. n now im gonna continue ma ongoing-works since these past few weeks. n this coming few weeks. more.

actually the site of mine is around Penang, coastal area, including mangrove swamp. n im still collecting ma samples (3 plant species);

S portulacastrum, I pes-caprae n C ciliata.

for antioxidant values, d samples need to be extracted, n before that, i have to clean, dry, blend d samples. further steps are coming my way, but lets just take these 3 steps first, n im gonna write detail on that later. d thing is these 3 initial steps require a very great patience, motivation n manpower. ma samples aka leaves part are so tiny n there's bunch of 'em in a petiole. especially S portulacastrum. excluding C ciliata. its okay for I pes-caprae.

n d thing again, is, i have to spend 3-4 hours picking out n separate d leaves from d stems. listening to radio, might help reduce d stress, but to have companies besides, its better. i could certainly do it alone but if there's anybody giving hands, i wouldn't refuse d helps! why not? hehe

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S portulacastrum

look at there, a happy neighborhood, I pes-caprae n S portulacastrum.

d seeds of S portulacastrum

closer look. tiny leaves right? huhhhhhuuuuuuu

nice flowers

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I pes-caprae

dried leaves. squeeze it like jacker crisps. :p

leaves left in d oven for 3 days, 45 degrees.

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C ciliata

found along Sg Kongsi, Balik Pulau, Penang

feeling damn lucky to see it bloom by the time we arrived. it was a long wait.

dried leaves is then blended. obtained <400 grams from 2 kilos of fresh leaves.

just done I pes-caprae. n the other 2 species are being processed.

wish me luck guys!

more posts coming real soon