Transforming Green Cincau into Instant Snack, IPB Student Gets First Place in Bidikmisi Essay Competition

Again, IPB student successfully excelled in a competition. Niswana Wafi Alfarda and Vika Tresnadiana Herlina, students from the Faculty of Agricultural Technology (FATETA), joined the Bidikmisi Essay Competition that was held by Bidikmisi Student Community, Sebelas Maret University (Komadiksi UNS), (28-30/9). The idea for the innovative product that they named J-Cups (Pasteurized Cincau Jelly) came in the first place in this competition.

They said that the local food product currently was only being processed and packed minimally, causing it unable to become a magnet that captivated consumers' eyes. On the other side, in this developing era, society's consumption pattern kept changing. This made functional food as a healthy lifestyle was seen more desirable by consumers.

"One of the local-based functional food that is potential to be developed is green cincau and moringa leaf," Wafi explained.

They combined green cincau along with pandan leaf and moringa leaf to create the pride for local product. The essence of pride towards local product was the idea that was proposed during the idea development. When the good image of the national product has rooted in society's mindset, Indonesia did not have to worry about the incoming globalization.

"We hope that our innovation could be implemented and could also motivate our student friends to always be confident and achieve more," said Wafi.

J-Cups is a local instant snack that is ready to eat, consisting of green cincau and pandan and moringa leaf extract. Its form is a jelly in a cup, the jelly form is chosen because the chewy texture is favorable to consume, especially the young generation. J-Cups is also rich in antioxidants.

"Alhamdulillah we are really grateful and happy. May this work can be implemented in the creative industry so it can enhance the competitiveness of local products," said Vika.