KUANTAN, March 9 — Seah Hui Ni’s determination to ‘perfect’ her research within five years reaped dividends when her ‘Phenolic-Rich Microcapsule’, extracted from cat’s whiskers was adjudged ‘Best Creation by a Student’ at the Creation, Innovation, Technology and Research Exposition (Citrex) 2016 organised by Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP).

The 23-year-old student of UMP’s Chemical and Natural Resources Faculty beat 23 other entries, and received a gold medal for her research.

She said she chose the cat’s whiskers, or scientifically known as Orthosiphon Stamineus because of its usefulness in preventing a variety of diseases including diabetes, apart from the fact it was very easy to obtain.

“The number of patients suffering from diabetes is also increasing from year to year. Last year alone, the International Diabetes Federation stated there were 3.3 million cases of diabetes recorded in Malaysia.

“This drove me to find a way to reduce those statistics. Consuming the nutrients of cat’s whiskers in capsules will be much easier for people,” Seah told reporters here today.

She said in 2014, she signed an agreement with a company to commercialise the product, adding that another company was also guiding her to commercialise the product, such as its packaging.

Meanwhile, UMP vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Daing Nasir Ibrahim in his closing speech said Citrex, which was previously open only to university students and staff, currently extended participation to students from secondary schools, as well.

He said UMP also intended to invite 24 cluster schools of excellence to become regular participants in the event from next year. — Bernama