Karakteristik Fisik dan Kimia Sari Buah Mengkudu (Morinda citrifolia L.) dengan Perbedaan Lama Waktu Fermentasi

Abstract

Noni (Morinda citrifolia L.) experienced an increase in production in East Java province from 2020 to 2021 starting from 2,181,099 kg to reaching 2,652,373 kg. This is supported by the high content of antioxidant compounds but is not directly proportional to people's interest in consuming noni fruit. The low level of consumption is due to the dominant presence of caproic acid. Fermentation of noni fruit is one way to reduce the dominant caproic acid content. Caproic acid is a compound that causes an unpleasant aroma and taste in noni fruit. In this study, the content of color, viscosity, flavonoids ,polyphenols, vitamin C, antioxidant activity, alcohol content, and pH were tested. This study used one factorial CRD namely a variation in the length of fermentation time (Fresh, 2 weeks, 3 months, 1 year, 3 years and 5 years). The results of the study showed that the longer the fermentation of noni fruit can increase the redness (0.28-2.03), flavonoid content (0.30-0.78 mgQE/ml), polyphenols (0.42-0.81 mgGAE/ml), antioxidant activity (25.58-37.45% inhibition), alcohol content (0.07- 0.19%) of noni extract. Color lightness (31.40-24.40), yellowness (6.78-4.05), viscosity (3.23-2.45 mPa.s), vitamin C content (6.64-2.98 mg/ml), pH (3.93-3.50) decreased with duration of fermentation of noni fruit. In conclusion, the difference in length of fermentation time had a significant effect on noni extract (p≤0.05), indicating that the fermentation time of noni fruit had a significant effect on the physical and chemical characteristics of noni extract.