The theme of our research has always been focused on structure-function studies on various aspects of food biopolymers. Being an indigenous starch, sago starch has been a focus of our study. This palm-starch has a lot of interesting as well as intriguing properties, yet to be explored. Admittedly, our research so far has been mainly directed at understanding the functional properties of sago and exploring the various possibilities to diversify its application. We believe more fundamental research is urgently needed in this area to study structure-function of sago starch by probing and elucidating the fine structure of amylose and amylopectin of sago starch.
 
Apart from starch, we have been also quite involved in studying (what we considered) a unique biopolymer, i.e., konjac glucomannan. As our study progresses, we become more fascinated by this polysaccharide. Unlike xanthan, gellan, chitosan, and some other relatively new biopolymers, studies and informations on konjac are still scarce. Apart from some works by Japanese researchers (in particular Professor Nishinari's group), konjac has been given very little attention. We believe that konjac holds a lot of promise and hopefully it will not disappoint us!

Our research is well supported by a group of post-graduate students (MSc & PhD) working on various topics related to food biopolymers. Some of our findings have been published in reputable scientific journal such as Journal of Food Science, Food Chemistry, Food Research International, etc.

Funding for our project comes mainly from three sources:

(1) IRPA (Intensification of Research in Prioritised Area), Ministry of Science, Technology & Environment,

(2) external grants, e.g., Yayasan Felda, and

(3) university's short term grant. Over the past six years, the group members collectively have procured several research grants from these sources amounting to more than a million ringgit