IPB Researchers Produced Snack for Women Experiencing Premenstrual Syndrome

The researcher team from Department of Community Nutrition, Faculty of Human Ecology (Fema), Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), namely Prof. Dr. drh. M. Rizal Damanik, Sofyan Wahyu Kumara and Anna V. R. Mauludyani, SP., M.Gizi conducted a research to reduce complaints of premenstrual syndrome for women. They developed a snack like onion stick made of kapok banana peel flour supplemented with torbangun leaves flour.

"Premenstrual syndrome is a syndrome that often occurs in women at a young age. Factors associated with this syndrome include physical activity and consumption of animal foods and vegetables. This syndrome can be reduced by eating the right foods," said Sofyan.

Snacks commonly consumed by women contribute 10 percent of the fulfillment of energy needs a day. However, the snacks available on the market have a less balanced nutrient content. Lack of mineral consumption for women will affect the occurrence of premenstrual syndrome.

Several studies on the use of banana peel flour in food products have been done. This proves that banana peel flour can increase the content of fiber, calcium and phosphorus for the body.

Sofyan and the team choose banana peels as the base material in the production of onion sticks because banana peels contain high protein, fat, carbohydrate and fiber. In addition, it also contains bioactive compounds and antioxidants.

In addition to using banana peel as a base material, Sofyan also used torbangun leaves as a supplementation. The leaves contain minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc.

The team tested four kinds of formulas in the production of onion sticks. The results showed that F1 code with 5% substitution of banana peel flour is the best formula. The nutrient content of selected onion sticks per 100 grams is 484,40 kcal energy, 22,55% (bk) fat, 12,26% (bk) protein, 58,78% (bk) carbohydrate, 145,32 mg calcium, 59,49 mg magnesium and 10.04 mg iron. Utilization of banana peel flour as a substitute of wheat flour and torbangun flour as a mineral source is expected to be innovative in the production of high-mineral snack products, thus potentially reducing complaints of premenstrual syndrome for women. (FY/NM)