Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is one of the aromatic plants that show great morphology diversity such as inflorescence, leaf and aroma profiles. In world scale, basils have been widely used as a culinary herb. The essential oils of basils were used as food flavourant, medicines and in perfumery industry. In this study, different accessions of Ocimum basilicum L. from different regions were introduced and cultivated in Malaysia. The morphological variability, chemical compositions and antibacerial activity of the basil essential oils were studied. Morphology of the basils is distinctly differed. The yield of basil essential oils varied. The chemical variability among abroad basil essential oil was extremely broad. Chemical compositions of fixed oil revealed that basil seeds oil contained high linolenic acid. The chemical and biological studies of the basil plant are important in helping to protect the plant biodiversity by introducing as a new agricultural crop in Malaysia which can be used as one of the natural resources in producing medicine and hygienic product.

The quality of life on the planet depends on the quality of the environment. The problem is global, and in many countries the problems associated with contaminated sites became more serious. Contaminated sites in general resulted from many activities, including industrial activities, due to fossil fuel manufacturing and imports/exports. There is a big threat on environmental pollution, and serious ecological damage (fuel by-products and spills in sites where storage, transport, distribution, refining, consumption). There is an increased interest to promote environmental methods in the process of cleaning oil-polluted sites. In this study investigated Bioremediation Techniques; which is use of living organisms, primarily microorganisms, to degrade the environmental contaminants into less toxic forms. This method cost less and does not introduce chemicals to the environment. In comparison with physiochemical methods, bioremediation is a very feasible alternative for an oil spill response. This technique is considered an effective technology for treatment of oil pollution.

Dengue is one of the major health problem in many countries. Aedes aegypti mosquito is the major vector of dengue fever disease. Search for larvicidal active compound(s) is one of the several attempts to find effective and affordable ways to control this mosquito. In this study investigated the toxic effect of different solvent (acetone, chloroform, cold and hot ethanol) extracts from different parts (bark, leaf, root and seed) of Neem (Azadirachta indica) against Aedes aegypti larvae. Therefore, this study demonstrated the potency of Neem in managing the larvae and thus contribute as an affordable way to control Aedes aegypti mosquito. Through this study the crude extracts from different parts of Neem (Azadirachta indica) could be extracted by using different solvents and this will lead to different biological activities.

In the wake of energy crisis, the alternatives for energy sources are much demanded. the use of herbs and plants in food industry has a long history. the disversity among the components of the plants has resulted in their use in many applications including flavors and medicine. The conventional methods for the extraction of essential oils such as Hydrodistillation (HD)and soxhlet in which the essential oils are evaporated by heating a mixture of water and plant materials followed by the liquefaction of the vapors in a condenser. These methods suffers from several disadvantages including losses in the volatile compounds, long extraction time and degradation of some components through thermal process.Microwave heating has an incontestable place in analytical and organic laboratory practices. In this book, microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD)was used to extract an essential oil from ginger. Results were compared with conventional hydrodistillation method. Results show that MAHD faster in extraction time, yield and costs compared with HD method.

The direct discharge of palm oil mill effluent (POME) wastewater causes serious environmental pollution due to its high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). Traditional ways for POME treatment have both economical and environmental disadvantages.In this book, ultrasonic assisted-membrane anaerobic system(UMAS)was used as an alternative, cost effective method for treating POME. Six steady states were attained as a part of a kinetic study that considered concentration ranges of 8,220 to 15,400 mg/l for mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) and 6,329 to 13,244 mg/l for mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS). Kinetic equations from Monod, Contois and Chen & Hashimoto were employed to describe the kinetics of POME treatment at organic loading rates ranging from 2 to 13 kg COD/m3/d.throughout the experiment, the removal efficiency of COD was from 94.8 to 96.5% with hydraulic retention time, HRT from 400.6 to 5.7 days.The growth yield coefficient, Y was found to be 0.62gVSS/g COD the specific microorganism decay rate was 0.21d-1 and the methane gas yield production rate was between 0.25 l/g COD/d and 0.58 l/g C