THE IMPROVEMENT OF WHITE PEPPER QUALITY THROUGH FERMENTATION PROCESS BY ACETOBACTER SP. Kirana S. Sasmitaloka*1, Tatang Hidayat1, and Hernani1
Indonesian Center for Agricultural Postharvest Research and Development
Jln. Tentara Pelajar No. 12, Bogor 16114
*Email: kirana.sanggrami[at]gmail.com
Abstract
White pepper is a potential plantation commodity and has a high economic value. The improvement of white pepper quality has been developed by fermentation method. This research was aimed to study characteristics of white pepper through fermentation by addition of Acetobacter sp. The methodology of the study was consisted of several stages, i.e handling of raw material, fermentation, decorticating, washing, drying and analysis the quality of physical and chemical. The raw material was used in this study from Sukabumi. After threshing, 1.2 kg of pepper was soaked in water mixed with inoculum culture. The treatment consisted of: A) concentration of Acetobacter sp (A1 = 15, A2 = 20, A3 = 25%) and B) soaking duration (B1 = 3, B2 = 5 and B3 = 7 days). The experiment used a completely randomized design (CRD) of factorial with two replications. The result showed that the best treatment was fermentation for 5 days with the addition of 25% of Acetobacter sp. This condition produced white pepper in fulfill in requirement of SNI standards with piperine content of 1.82%, essential oil content of 2.4% and TPC of 1.25 x 102 CFU/g.
Keywords: Acetobacter sp, fermentation, quality, white pepper
