Yakult trip

Last Monday, my classmates and i went to Yakult factory at Seremban. We gathered at biotech 1 at 8.30 a.m. One hour later, we arrived at Yakult Factory. We were so excited when we saw the Yakult factory.

Yakult Factory

The tour begins with a brief introduction of on the background of the Yakult company and product, followed by an educational video show on the importance of good bacteria for a healthy digestive system. The bacteria used to make Yakult are called Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain and it is imported directly from Japan.

Briefing about yakult

Free yakult bottle

Yakult bottle and a note pad

In 1930 Dr. Minoru Shirota, a Japanese scientist, was the first in the world to isolate and culture a probiotic strain which reached the intestines alive in large numbers and imparted health benefits to the host. He used this strain to make Yakult, a fermented milk drink, so as to reach the benefits of the strain to people at large. 

Yakult was first launched in Japan in 1935, and today with over 80 years of history, Yakult is a global leader in the probiotic drinks market with the wide range of probiotic products using Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) and Bifidobacterium breve. 

The flagship product Yakult contains over 6.5 billion beneficial bacteria (Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota) which have proven health benefits. It helps improve digestion and helps build Immunity. It has been scientifically proven to be safe and effective. 

There are many different versions of Yakult bottles from all over the world. Do you noticed that the Yakult bottle in Malaysia is different from others countries?

We given a guided tour to view the whole production process through specially constructed glass wall. We learn more about how the latest technology is used to make Yakult. 

At the end of the tours, we are offered to purchase Yakult at a discounted price. Everyone of us enjoyed the trip as we learned a lot of new things about Yakult that we wouldn't have known if we didn't go for this trip. We found that the trip was very enriching and interesting and hope that we will be given the chance to go on another trip.

Principles of Ecology

On that day, Dr Wan told us to sit in a group and discuss each other about the topic that has been given to us. We were required to understand the topic because later on we will move to each group and teach them what we had understand. While the other group must find some interesting facts to add on the topic. After learning this topic, we able to understand the principles of ecology, to list and interpret the hierarchy in ecology, to describe the factors determining the distribution of organisms, to explain the contribution factors leading to homeostasis and to describe type of interactions. 

Ecology is the systemtic study of organisms and their interations with the environment that reveals the relationships between living and nonliving parts of the environment.

Hierarchy in Ecology

Homeostasis is a dynamic balance of processes, materials and organisms in the ecosystem and biosphere. Roles of microbes in the ecosystems are oxygen producer (half of the oxygen on earth is produced by trees in the rain forest, the other half by blue-green algae in the ocean), fix nitrogen in the atmosphere into usable form, recyclers of dead materials, source of food in food chain, contribute to evolution and remove weaker species through infections. There are three types of physical interactions which are endosymbiosis, ectosymbiosis and  endo/ectosymbiosis.

Beneficial/harmful effects