The Effect of processing manner and the shape of temulawak (Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb) material on the quality of its dried product

English. Temulawak (Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb) as a native plant indigenous to Java (Indonesia), has been used much for traditional medicine as well as food and beverage's home industries. In addition, this commodity is also exported abroad. In its processing into useful temulawak product, the drying is one of several stages applied. This stage which is commonly done by sun drying, unfortunately has some weaknesses, i.e. not easily controllable as well as vurnerable to the fungi attack and contamination. Therefore modification on the drying method felt necessary, as done in this laboratory trial by introducing boiling or steaming pretreatments before drying. Besides, slicing on the temulawak was implemented to regulate its shape regulation which could expectedly affect the effectiveness of those treatments. Boiling as well as steaming tended to increase moisture content, starch and water soluble extractives compared to those without two treatments. Conversely, the slicing resulted in lower water extractives than that without slicing. On the other hand boiling or steaming as well as slicing method didn't affect significantly ash, fat, crude fiber, and protein contents. The specific identification color reaction on the temulawak which showed positive results revealed that the effective ingredients i.e. starch and volatile oil still existed in the temulawak product

unknown. Temulawak (Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb) sebagai tanaman asli berasal dari pulau Jawa (Indonesia) telah banyak dimanfaatkan untuk obat-obatan tradisional dan industri kecil makanan dan minuman. Disamping itu komoditas temulawak ini telah banyak diekspor ke luar negeri. Dalam pengolahannya menjadi produk temulawak bermanfaat, pengeringan merupakan salah satu tahapan yang diterapkan. Pengeringan ini biasanya dilakukan secara alami dengan memanfaatkan panas sinar matahari. Sayangnya cara ini memiliki beberapa kelemahan, seperti sukar diatur dan mudah diserang jamur serta mengalami kontaminasi. Oleh sebab itu adanya modifikasi cara pengeringan perlu dilaksanakan yaitu dengan menerapkan perlakuan pendahuluan perebusan atau pengukusan. Disamping itu adanya cara pengirisan temulawak juga dilaksanakan yang diharapkan dapat mempengaruhi efektifitas kedua perlakuan tersebut. Hasil menunjukkan bahwa baik perebusan ataupun pengukusan cenderung meningkatkan kadar air, kadar pati dan zat sari terlarut air dibandingkan dengan tanpa kedua perlakuan tersebut. Selanjutnya pengirisan menghasilkan zat sari terlarut air yang lebih tinggi dari pada tanpa pengirisan. Dilain hal adanya perlakuan perebusan atau pengukusan serta cara pengirisan tak berpengaruh secara nyata terhadap kadar abu, lemak, serat kasar dan protein. Adanya reaksi pewarnaan khusus yang positif menunjukkan bahwa adanya zat berkhasiat dalam temulawak seperti pati dan minyak atsiri