Herbs are widely utilized in food and health industries. Their beneficial effects to the human body have been attributed to the presence of active phytochemical ingredients with some efficiency for disease treatment as well as for beauty and health enhancement. Public awareness on the adverse effects of synthetic chemical products also increased the demand for herbal products. Highly efficient herbal processing and extraction technologies have been developed to obtain the optimal amounts of active ingredients from herbs and cope with the rising demands for herbal products. This article reviews the state-of-the-art development in herbal processing and extraction methods from the year 1991 until 2015. We start with a brief history of herbal usage, followed by descriptions of 10 types of extraction processes and critical analysis of their relative advantages and disadvantages. Scale-up considerations of the extraction methods are shared, and a highlight of the current and future challenges facing the herbal industry is presented.

Nowadays, people are demanding on the naturally derived cosmetic products, including lip balms. However, there is a lack of studies for the physicochemical properties of the formulated lip balms. Besides, there are little publications found on the use of beetroot as an active ingredient and colourant in lip balm formulation. Thus, this study aims to formulate lip balm using beetroot; and test the physicochemical properties of formulated lip balms to get three best formulations. The stability of these best lip balms was conducted for 4 weeks in room temperature and chiller conditions. Finally, a sensory evaluation was conducted to identify consumer acceptance towards the best lip balms. Lip balms placed in room temperature were all stable while few changes occurred for the lip balms placed in a chiller. All panellist preferred the same lip balm in the sensory test. The result of this study can be extended to assess the potential of beetroot in the formulation of other cosmetic products.

Nitrogen deficiency frequently occurs at agricultural soil because of NH₃ volatilization to the environment which results in low urea-N use efficiency by rice plants. A pot experiment was conducted to assess the synergistic effects of a mixture of rice straw and rice husk biochars (RSRH) on (1) total N, soil exchangeable NH₄⁺, and available NO₃⁻, and (2) uptake of N, P, and K in rice plant. RSRH biochar at 5 and 10 t ha⁻¹ had significantly minimized ammonia volatilization by 33.5% and 40.7%. Further, RSRH biochars also had significantly increased available NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻, available P, and available K in the soil over T1. In line to increase in soil nutrient availability, the rice plant height, tiller number, greenness, and panicle number were increased. This resulted in an increase of nutrient uptake, use efficiency, and dry matter production of the rice plant. RSRH biochar altered the soil environment by minimizing NH₃ loss and increasing soil nutrients for efficient plant uptake.