A group of UiTM researchers, Ali Mohamad Noor, Noriza Ishak, Husin Khan, Hamizad Abd Hadi and Ismayaza Noh invented flour from okra. Okra, popularly known in Malaysia as Lady’s Finger, can be easily found in in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippine. Rich in calcium, okra contains 90% water, 7% carbohydrate, 2% protein and 1% fiber, traces of minerals and vitamins but its drawback is it easily matures that it turns too tough to eat as vegetable. These researchers thus invented okra flour from the unwanted, tough old okra otherwise tossed as food waste. The flour can be used as food thickening agent and to make snack. Okra is unseasonable vegetable so it provides raw material for the flour throughout the year. Secondly, as it is made from waste okra, the cost of the flour turns out cheap. The flour making can also bring cheers to the okra farmers as they now can also sell the unwanted mature okra.
Reported by Megawati Omar, Research Management Institute, UiTM
