FORMULATION OF VIRGIN COCONUT OIL (VCO) FROM CENTRIFUGATION AND SPONTANEOUS FERMENTATION PROCESSES WITH RICE BRAN OIL (RBO) FOR A FOOD SUPPLEMENT
Upit Pitrianingsih, Ratri Ariatmi Nugrahani*, Tri Yuni Hendrawati, Nurul Hidayati Fithriyah

Master Program of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Muhammadiyah Jakarta
Jl. Otista III G 101 A RT 001 RW 002 cipinang cempedak atinegara Timur

Abstract

- Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is plant belonging to the Arecaceae family with a myriad of uses. Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is one of the products can be derived from this plant. The free fatty acid content, especially lauric acid, determines the quality of VCO. There are several methods of VCO production, depending on the raw material treatments and purification/separation processes. The common methods in use are centrifugation and fermentation to produce VCO that meets the Standard Nasional Indonesia (SNI/Indonesia National Standards). Those methods yield lauric acid contents at 45.1 - 53.2 %, and lauric acid is known to have antibacterial and antiviral potentials. This study aimed to produce VCO with lauric acid content that met SNI standards for food supplements to increase immunity by formulating it with Rice brand oil (RBO). RBO is known to contain vitamins, antioxidants, and fatty acids, such as linoleic acid, that are needed to boost the immune system and nutrient absorption. The coconuts used were choice fresh ripe fruits and prepared with the wet processing procedure. The research method included comparing centrifugation and spontaneous fermentation processes, with time of deposition and fermentation as the independent variable. The best yield of VCO was used in combination with RBO to generate nutritious food supplements. The centrifugation and spontaneous fermentation methods produced the best yields of VCO of 39% and 33% respectively after 24 hours of deposition. GC-MS (Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) analyses were employed to determine the lauric acid contents in the resulting VCO. The results showed that the lauric acid contents were 52.1% for the centrifugation and 52.3% for spontaneous fermentation. The formulation of VCO and 5% RBO contained 46.519 grams lauric acid and 2.431 grams linoleic acid.

Keywords: virgin coconut oil, lauric acid, rice brand oil, antivirus

Topic: Medicine and Health Sciences