New Technologies, Processing Methods, Equipment / Machineries And Quality Standards On The Production Of Coconut Based Food Products In Indonesia
Indonesia has 3.7 million hectares of coconut plantation area and produces about 12 billion nuts/year, but coconut based products are still limited. Some products produced in Indonesia are copra, cooking oil, coconut milk, natta de coco, sugar and beverage. Although coconut water, tender coconut kernel, and coconut meal (residue) are good sources of nutrients and fibers that can be processed into various food products, products from those materials are still very limited. Coconut water and tender coconut meat can be processed into coconut water concentrate powder (CWCP) using spray dryer machine. Nutrient values of CWCP are: water content 5.14%, sugar 9.0%, potassium 1.32mg/100g and dissolved fiber 1.84 gram. The coconut meal can also be blended with corn and rice using extruder machine to become coconut corn rice (COCORI) snack. This product has good nutrient value and high fiber. The product nutrient value are water content 7.25%, protein 4.77%, fat 6.61%, ash 0.87%, carbohydrate 87.75%, crude fiber 2.13% and calorie 430 kCal.
Besides these products, many small industries produce VCO to fulfill local and export market. Although many researches have been conducted to improve VCO quality which has high lauric content and lower water content, but VCO derivative food product has not been diversified yet. As “the healthiest oil”, VCO is very potential feedstock of coconut-based products, such as mayonnaise, salad dressing or margarine. VCO with high medium fatty acid content (C6-C12) has good functional properties for health as it is not susceptible to oxidation and trans fat formation. Now, the research for VCO based products is being carried out funded by industries, Ministry of Research and Technology, Agricultural Department, and ICOPRI. Mayonnaise product, salad dressing and margarine from VCO have high lauric content retention (~90%) from the original VCO. Further study is required to examine these food product diets to biological experiment to have certification as the functional food product.