style="text-transform: uppercase;">Kota Kinabalu: The cooperation between Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and the Heilongjiang Academy of Science (HAS) China Research Centre has borne fruit with the creation of two products - Black Garlic and Black Fungus.UMS Vice Chancellor, Prof. Datuk Dr. Mohd. Harun Abdullah said the cooperation made history for the university when UMS became the first university to get the Halal status from Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (Jakim) through its subsidiary company UMS Investment Holdings Sdn Bhd (UiNVEST) for both products.

"We are thankful for the joint research between our food science faculty and Heilongjiang Academy of Science which has had great benefit in meeting the market and society's demand in the halal food industry.

"I believe that this can be the catalyst for other products through this smart leadership," he said when met by the media.

Harun said both products had high nutrition and were good for health.

"Based on studies, Black Garlic can assist to improve blood flow, has high antioxidants, reduces cholesterol, is antimicrobian, antifungus and other benefits.

"Black Fungus can be used as an ingredient in foods that can improve blood flow, has high antioxidants, reduces cholesterol, and improve emotions to be more positive and stable," he said in announcing that the processing of the product was carried out in China and would be commercialised by UiNVEST in the Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular market.

The launching of both products will be carried out by Chief Minisiter, Datuk Seri Musa Aman at the UMS sustainable agriculture faculty agriculture fair on Oct 29.