Diversity of Traditional Fermented Foods: Sucrose and Reducing Sugar Analysis of Various Fermented-Cassava

Abstract

Cassava and its various fermented products are one of the local foods in Indonesia. The fermentation process can have different effects on food, both in taste and nutritional value. Changes in sucrose and reduced sugar levels during fermentation play a role in determining food effects in various health disorders. This study aims to describe the impact of cassava fermentation on different fermented products (tape, growol, gathot) in terms of sucrose and reducing sugar levels. This observational laboratory research was done through two stages, i.e., qualitative and quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis examined carbohydrates' presence (monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides) through the Molisch test, Benedict's test, and the Iodine test. Quantitative analysis was carried out to determine sucrose and reducing sugar levels using three replicates with the Nelson-Somogyi test. The research was conducted in January-July 2019 at Universitas Respati Yogyakarta and Chem-mix Pratama Laboratory. The statistical analysis used was One Way Anova at a 5% significance level and continued with the Tukey test. Qualitative tests showed cassava, tape, growol, and gathot contained monosaccharides and polysaccharides. Benedict's test results showed that growol did not have reducing sugars. The quantitative test showed Growol's reducing sugar content was the lowest (0.32%) compared to cassava (0.95%), tape (14.87%), and gathot (11.12%). The highest sucrose content was in cassava (4.77%) followed by growol (2.36%), tape (1.47%), and gathot (0.78%). There were significant differences in sucrose and reducing sugars levels between cassava, tape, growol, and gathot (p<0.001). In conclusion, growol is a fermented food that can be used as a functional food.