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Astaxanthin is an antioxidant that can be extracted from crustaceans such as shrimp, lobster, crawfish, and crabs. Fermented Acetesshrimp (called cincalok) is a traditional side dish from Indonesia rich in astaxanthin. This study extracted astaxanthin from cincalok using the glass beads vortex method with virgin coconut oil (VCO) as a green solvent. Several parameters that affect the amount of astaxanthin extracted, such as the ratio between sample and solvent, contact time, and particle size of glass beads, have been tested. The physicochemical characteristics of VCO before and after extraction were also analyzed. The UV-Vis spectrophotometer analysis results showed that the optimum ratio between sample and solvent was 1:10 g/mL, the optimum contact time was 15 minutes, and the optimum particle size of the glass beads was 60–80 mesh. Under these optimum conditions, the amount of astaxanthin extracted was 27.97 μg/g dry weight of cincalok or 2.79 μg/mL VCO. After extraction, the viscosity and density of VCO still meet the Indonesian National Standard with values of 17.98 mm2/s and 917.2 kg/m3, respectively. Before and after extraction, the GC-MS chromatogram shows the main component of fatty acids in VCO is lauric acid, with a percentage of 27.28 and 26.72%, respectively. VCO can also extract omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA from cincalok with the same rate of 0.04%.

Shrimp species have been reported to contain astaxanthin, which has high antioxidant activities. They also contain omega-3 in the form of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which can act as photoprotective agents that maintain healthy skin from reactive oxygen species (ROS) due to exposure to UV rays. In addition, fermentation has become an essential pre-treatment to extract the bioactive components in shrimp more easily. This study aims to extract oil from cincalok, a traditional Indonesian (especially in West Kalimantan) food made from Acetesshrimp fermented for 7–15 days. Cincalok oil was added to the lotion as a bioactive additive and sunscreen. Cincalok oil was extracted by the soxhletation method using n-hexane as solvent. The oil was then analyzed for its physicochemical properties, including density, viscosity, possible heavy metal contamination, and the profile of the fatty acids contained. The yield of cincalok oil extraction was 1.09 ± 0.05%, with the highest fatty acid content of 21.70% palmitic acid, 10.99% DHA, and 10.33% EPA. Cincalok oil also contains astaxanthin of 0.38 ± 0.02 mg/L oil. It has a viscosity of 69.71 ± 0.12 cP with a density of 0.93 ± 0.03 g/cm3. The analysis data of ICP-AES shows that there is no heavy metal contamination. The SPF value produced from cincalok oil lotion at 5 and 10% variations of cincalok oil was 15.17 ± 0.09 and 30.28 ± 0.49, respectively. The SPF value of lotion with the addition of cincalok oil was much greater than that of the base lotion, which was 2.16 ± 0.12.

In this research, treated metakaolinite (TMK) was introduced into the TiO2photoelectrode to fabricated dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The photovoltaic cells have four main natural components, i.e., a photosensitizer (carotenoid bixin), photoelectrode (TiO2/kaolinite), electrolyte (glycerine carbonate derivative), and counter-electrode (carbon). Their stability, reusability, and equivalent circuit were studied. The presence of 5% of TMK in anatase TiO2paste decreased the TiO2band gap from 3.21 to 3.16 eV. The result showed that the presence of 5% of TMK in TiO2paste was more favorable to obtain higher energy conversion efficiency. Under a light intensity of 200 W/m2, it produced an energy conversion yield of 0.086%. The combination of the electrolyte and the TMK demonstrated a synergistic effect to improve the electrical properties of the DSSC. The energy storage function worked well until the third day of analysis. The DSSC based on TiO2/TMK photoelectrode exhibited 16 times better stability than pure TiO2-based photoelectrode. The Faraday charge transfer processes showed that the TiO2/TMK photoelectrode is not in direct contact with the carbon counter-electrode.

A single-step method was developed for methyl ester production from palm oil using tin-empty palm bunch ash impregnated zeolite (Sn-PBA-Zeolite) as heterogeneous catalyst. The weight ratios between Sn solution and zeolite 1:4, while the weight of the PBA was varied from 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 g in 60 mL of distilled water. Effects of reaction time, molar ratio of reactants, and catalyst concentration on the yield of methyl ester were studied. Characteristics of methyl ester produced were also investigated. The optimal conditions for transesterification reaction carried out by using a Sn-PBA-Zeolite of 1:4:25 weight ratio were a palm oil/methanol molar ratio 1:6, catalyst concentration (3% wt/wt), and 3 hours reaction time, whereas the maximum yield of methyl ester reached 76.21% wt/wt. The optimal conditions for esterification reaction carried out by using a Sn-PBA-Zeolite of 1:4:5 weight ratio were a palm oil/methanol molar ratio 1:12, catalyst concentration (3% wt/wt), and 3 hours reaction time, and the maximum yield of methyl ester reached 94.76% wt/wt. The methyl ester resulted has a density of 0.89 g/mL, viscosity of 7.82 cSt, and dominated by a methyl oleate, methyl palmitate, and methyl stearate.