UPLB Research and Extension News

The Intellectual Property Philippines has issued a notice of patent allowability to “A Method for Extending the Marketable Life of ‘Carabao’Mangoes,” a technology developed by Dr. Ma. Concepcion C. Lizada, a former Director of the then College of Agriculture-Postharvest Research and Training Center.

With a notice of patent allowability, UPLB is set to be granted the patent for this invention.

Rattan (Calamus merrillii Becc.) is an important non-timber forest product of the Philippines. In the Southeast Asian region, it is second only to timber in value.

The manufacture of rattan cane into furniture and other high-value items contributes greatly to the domestic employment and export economy.

But owing to the unabated exploitation of the natural forests of the country, as well as the unregulated extraction of rattan from the wild, the furniture industry is facing a shortage of good-quality rattan canes.

Although rattan plantations have in fact been established around the country, manufacturers seldom use materials from these sources. According to forester-researcher Dr. Willie P. Abasolo of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, “furniture makers probably still prefer rattan sourced from the wild rather than those commercially-grown because they are uncertain of the quality of these new materials.”

The ‘Carabao’ mango, also known as Manila Super, is one of the top fruit exports of the Philippines, third to banana and pineapple, and enjoys a big market overseas.

Nearly 90% of our mango export is sold in Japan and Hongkong—the gateway to the Chinese consuming market— while the rest are brought to the United States and Europe. Approximately $20M worth of Philippine mangoes was exported in 2008, according to the Department of Agriculture.

One of the problems encountered in enhancing the genetic potential of the Philippine ‘Carabao’ mango through biotechnology is the difficulty in culturing the mangoes in vitro.

Prof. Lilian F. Pateña, a plant physiology expert at the Crop Science Cluster (CSC) of the UPLB College of Agriculture (CA), relates that “improving the Carabao mangoes’ skin, size, and shelf life through genetic engineering would need an efficient tissue culture system.”

Often, people practice self medication and repeatedly use medicines that have been previously prescribed to them for what they think are the same illnesses that they are experiencing. This overfamiliarity to medicines, especially antibiotics, causes resistance, with the antibiotics losing their effectiveness in fighting infections. This makes the generation of new antibiotics a continuing concern by our scientists.

Dr. Eufrocinio C. Marfori, University Researcher at the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnolgy (BIOTECH) is one of those who are in the lookout for new generation antibiotics. In fact he has completed the study “Evaluation of Toxicity and Mutagenicity of Trichosetin, an Anti- MRSA Antibiotic Produced from the Dual Culture of Catharanthus roseus Callus and Trichoderma harzianum.”