Coconut sugar production of Dwarf coconut varieties

Abstract

One alternative coconut product of high economic value is coconut sugar. Coconut sugar is processed from tapped sap collected from bunches. Nationally, coconut sugar production reaches around 300,000 tonnes / year. The demand for coconut sugar in Indonesia, especially as a raw material for sweet soy sauce production, increasing by 10% every year. Due to sluggish demand, raw materials for the coconut sugar soy product has been decreasing in recent years. The shortage of coconut climbers collecting coconut sap is the cause of this issue, which is caused by a number of factors, including the fact that young tappers are less interested in climbing tall coconut palms. To solve this problem, it is important to determine the potency of dwarf coconuts, which have a shorter trunk and bear fruit earlier. This study was aimed to evaluate and conduct selection of Dwarf coconut varieties that have high yield potential as a producer of sap and coconut sugar. The research was conducted in North Sulawesi Provinces by evaluating nine Dwarf coconut varieties. The results of research on the production of coconut sap and sugar from nine Dwarf coconut varieties with different plant ages, obtained mixed results among coconut varieties. The time length of tapping sap varies between 31.42 and 43.21 days/bunch, the amount of sap varies between 1.1 and 3.3 liters/tree/day, the sap pH ranges from 6.49 to 7.86, Brix ranges from 14.01 to 17.64, sugar yield ranges from 14.54 to 18.95%, and sugar production ranges from 0.16 to 0.42 kg/tree/day. Waingapu Red Dwarf (WRD), Salak Green Dwarf (SGD), and Nias Yellow Dwarf (NYD) are the Dwarf coconut varities with the highest potential sap and sugar yields, with potential sugar yields of 2.09 tons, 1.64 tons, and 1.56 tons/month/ha, respectively. These Dwarf coconut are hoped to be grown in several provinces that produce coconut sugar to assist coconut farmer.