UNAIR NEWS – Three students of Faculty of Fisheries and Marine (FPK) Universitas Airlangga succeeded in making innovation in food processing technology. By utilizing seaweed as the most important fishery products in Indonesia, carrageenan was used successfully as raw materials and stabilizer of ice cream production, in addition to gelatin.
The spirit of Iis Suryani with her Student Creativity Program (PKM-PE) team members, Desy Intan Permata Sari and Depril Meriza Astutik, is in line with the government’s determination to make various efforts to meet food needs and improve the nutrition of the community by introducing a new variety of foods.
Under the guidance of FPK UNAIR lecturer, Annur Ahadi Abdillah, S.Pi., M.Si., PKM-PE entitled “Kappa and Iota Carrageenan Kappaphycus Alvarezii and Eucheuma Spinosum As Gelatin Substitution in Ice Cream Production” passed the selection and got research grant from the Kemenristekdikti 2018 PKM program.
Explained by Iis Suryani, as the leader of PKM-PE Team, seaweed can be used for various kinds of processed products, including carrageenan. Carrageenan itself is a polysaccharide extracted from the red seaweeds of Chondrus , Euchema , Gigartina , Hypnea , Iradea and Phyllophora .
The types of carrageenan are kappa, iota and lambda karagenan. Kappa and iota carrageenan is a fraction capable of forming a gel in water and is thermoreversible, melts when heated and solidifies if it is cooled.
“From the nature of the carrageenan it can be used as an additive in food products that function as stabilizers, thickeners , gel forming , emulsifiers that can be applied to food products in the form of ice cream,” said Iis Suryani.
Ice cream is the most popular type of frozen dessert with the highest fat content. It tastes sweet, soft textured, and delicious. It is made by freezing a mixture of various ingredients, such as a combination of milk with additives such as sugar, honey, with or without stabilizer.
The quality of ice cream will be greatly influenced by the way of processing and materials including the stabilizer used. In the market many ice cream products use a gelatin stabilizer that is syubhat (in question whether it is halal or not). The price of gelatin is also not cheap and not everyone wants to eat it.
“Therefore we are taking the initiative to replace the additional gelatin ingredients with the combination of kappa and iota carrageenan,” said Iis.
The presence of kappa and iota carrageenan type in ice cream making, according to their research, because the two types of carrageenan have different content of 3,6-anhydrogalactose and sulfate ester on carrageenan which cause different gel strength ,texture, syneresis and synergicity.
Scientifically, kappa has a rigid gel type (easily broken), characterized by high syneresis (liquid flow in the gel surface ). While iota has a gel that is elastic, syneresis free and reversible. So various types of carrageenan can affect the organoleptic and phytochemical characteristics produced by ice cream.
“So the purpose of our study is to determine the use of which type of carragenan is effective against the characteristics of ice cream,” added Iis Suryani.
From the hedonic test or the fondness of 50 panelists at Faculty of Fisheries and Marine UNAIR, most of them liked ice cream with addition of kappa and iota carrageenan. In details, 15 panelists love ice cream with iota , 15 people love ice cream with kappa and iota , 13 panelists love ice cream with kappa , and only 7 panelists love ice cream with gelatin.
“So the combination of kappa and iota carrageenan as substitute of gelatin on ice cream materials was a new innovation in ice cream production. Even as a substitute for gelatin it can also be used as a stabilizer in ice cream making, “added Iis.
Iis’ PKM-PE team hope that this innovation can be practically and functionally developed and introduced as a new product from marine product with more economic value and can be consumed by everyone. (*)
Editor: Bambang Be
