PENANG, 17 June 2015 – Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) once again made history when a research product of lecture and researcher from the School of Health Sciences, Associate Professor Dr. Wan Rosli Wan Ishak garnered First Place in the Moscow International Halal Exhibition, held from 21-23 May 2015 at the Crocus Expo International Exhibition Centre Russia.

Nutri Mush is a type of biscuit with a high fibre content, produced from flour made out of oyster mushrooms, in place of wheat flour at a certain amount, and is said to be beneficial to health.

A pack of Nutri Mush biscuits, which contains 4% of dried oyster mushrooms which is equivalent to 40% of fresh oyster mushrooms, is said to be able to prevent the onset of chronic health problems such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and other chronic illnesses.

“The Nutri Mush Biscuits is a product developed from our research which started in 2010 and has been commercialised by Multi Sunray Sdn Bhd,” said Wan Rosli.

According to Wan Rosli, the current intake of fibre from fruits and vegetables among adults and children in Malaysia is lower than required, and many current bakery-based products contain low fibre levels, so these biscuits should provide a solution to the above-mentioned problem.

Multi Sunray Sdn Bhd, the company which is assisting in the commercialisation of this product, has received a grant from MTDC amounting to RM 1.7 million while Halcent International Group of Companies has been appointed as the dealer for this halal product in United Arab Emirates (UAE), Japan and Russia.

Wan Rosli attributed this success to USM in strengthening his research endeavour towards producing quality products of world standards.

The research done by Wan Rosli and his team at the USM Health Campus in Kelantan in producing these biscuits and made ready for commercialisation, found that the oyster mushroom flour is a food ingredient which can be baked and made into biscuits, bread, pasta and other processed food products. Consumers, producers and distributors in the nation can greatly benefit from the development of this product. – Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin/Text: Hafiz Meah Ghouse Meah