IPB University Students Make Pletok Beer Flavors
Who doesn’t know pletok beer? This traditional Jakarta drink has good properties for the body because it is made from spices such as ginger, secang wood and black cumin. Pletok beer is widely consumed to refresh the body or help reduce the symptoms of certain diseases such as nausea, dizziness and fever.
In general, pletok beer is served in the form of ready-to-drink drinks in the form of powder and effervescent tablets. However, this unique thing is done by three IPB University students. They turned pletok beer into candy products.
Zulkifli Muhammad Muttaqin, Munadia Fitri, and Fatimah, students of the Food Science and Technology study program, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, IPB University assessed that the currently available pletok beer has several disadvantages, such as low palability, and relatively short shelf life. Therefore they tried to develop pletok beer into soft candy.
“At first we thought about developing this pletok beer because of the limited consumption. So that it is more practical and can cover various groups. The price of one candy is cheaper, so it can cover a wider market, “said Zulkifli.
Beer was plugged in by Zulkifli and two of his colleagues were made into soft candy. The reason, in its processing, uses lower temperatures than hard candy, so that retention of antioxidant compounds and their functional properties can be maintained. In addition, sodium bicarbonate is added to the preparation as a freshener.
“The selling price is in the range of candy prices in general, around five hundred to one thousand rupiah per piece. Because the selling price is cheap, but ultimately it can target all walks of life, from children to adults, “Zulkifli added.
With this pletok beer candy, Zulkifli hopes to increase the popularity of traditional drinks to the general public, improve the competitiveness of local food products with technological innovation, and improve the quality of local products with new innovations that are in line with current consumer trends. This candy is part of the Student Creativity Program in the Field of Exact Research (PKM-PE) of IPB University 2019 under the guidance of Dr. Didah Nur Faridah. (NR)
