Search

Fermentation is one of the most crucial steps to improving the quality of cocoa beans. The majority of farmers in Indonesia do not ferment cocoa beans in its production, hence the beans produced are dried, unfermented cocoa beans. To improve the quality of dried cocoa beans, re-fermentation of cocoa beans can be done. During fermentation, microorganisms are involved, and one of the microorganisms known to be beneficial for cocoa bean fermentation is yeast. This study aimed to determine the effect of the yeast consortium addition on the chemical properties of the dried cocoa bean during fermentation. Fermentation was carried out for 48 hours in a styrofoam box by soaking the beans into the media of cocoa peel extract and yeast extract with the addition of five inoculum combinations, namely ABC, ABD, ACD, BCD, ABCD, from 4 yeast isolates P. kudriavzevii(A), P. scutulata (B), P. cecembensis(C), and S. cerevisiae(D). Temperature, pH, total polyphenols, antioxidant activity, reducing sugars, and fermentation index were evaluated during fermentation. Based on the research results, the temperature in all treatments remained at an average of 32-33.6°C, and the pH value constantly increased in the combination of ABD and ABCD with pH values of 6 and 7. The variety of ABD obtained the highest total polyphenol content at 23.18 mg/g. ABD treatment experienced the highest increase in reducing sugar (6.7 mg/g). The lowest antioxidant activity was obtained by the combination of ABCD (0.51%). The fermentation index (FI) of all treatments has increased, with ABC treatment having the highest FI value of 1.13. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amylases have been used since centuries in textile, feed, food and paper industries. Of different biofactories applied in amylases production, molds have been widely used in industries based on their high capacity for production and excretion of the enzyme. Amylolytic molds can be isolated from different environments. This study aims to select and characterize amylolytic fungi from ghost crabs (Ocypode sp.), at Ujung Kulon National Park, Indonesia. Sampling was carried out by purposive random sampling method, followed by mold isolation by using the direct and washing method. The screening was carried out by the agar diffusion method, and the selected strain was fully characterized using microscopic and macroscopic studies. The data obtained were analyzed by one way ANOVA followed by DMRT test with a significant level of 5%. Based on the results, it can be seen that ghost crab (Ocypode sp.) is a good substrate for mold growth. There are 30 representative mold isolates has successfully isolated from crabs from 2 sampling sites. Almost 46% of mold isolates were found to have the potential ability to produce amylase enzymes. However, isolate UNJCC F111 has the highest IA value of 2.73 mm and based on observation, it is thought to belong to the Penicillium group. As many as 71.4% of the 14 amylolytic potential mold isolates were thought to belong to the genera Aspergillus. The isolated strains have high potential as biofactory of amylases production and could be applied for industrial production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]