ALABANG, Muntinlupa City- In the recent 65^th Convention of the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (PhilAAST), Dr. Maribel Nonato of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) bagged the Gregorio Y. Zara Award for Basic Science Research.

The award was established by the family of National Scientist Gregorio Y. Zara and Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science (former PhilAAST) in 1968 to honor some of the most outstanding national scientists of the country.

Dr. Maribel Nonato, UST Vice Rector for Research and Innovation, earned the award for her pioneering study on phytochemistry and biological activities of Philippine-grown species of Pandan plant.

Nonato obtained her doctoral degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. During this time, there were very limited works reported on pandan, she emphasized.

Upon her return to the country, Nonato resumed her research activities to discover further benefits of the plant apart from their known medicinal and handicraft uses. Her research on novel alkaloids (organic compounds) of pandan earned her the 2006 National Research Council of the Philippines Achievement Award in Chemical Sciences.

Nonato’s studies showed the potential of pandan as source of antimicrobials, antivirals, and antioxidants. Neighboring countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand also started to undertake similar researchers on their pandan species.