Effect of mass and size husk ash adsorbent on acid number and free fatty acid of virgin coconut oil (vco) produced by enzymatic process

Abstract

Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) is an oil produced using low temperatures. Efforts to maintain and improve the quality of VCO with papain enzymatic manufacturing method followed by the provision of husk ash adsorbent. The use of papain enzyme as much as 1.5% w/v with an incubation temperature of 40°C 24 hours was effective in reducing acid numbers. The husk ash adsorbent which was treated in an oven at 120°C 2 hours was effective in improving the color quality of the VCO. Variations of husk ash were adsorbent size (60, 80, and 100) mesh and mass (15, 20, and 25) grams. The sample that has been mixed with adsorbent is stirred with a magnetic stirrer at 300 rpm 1 hour then separated by centrifuge at 1000 rpm 1 hour and ends with VCO filtering with filter paper to separate the remaining adsorbent from the oil. Samples were tested for acid number and free fatty acid content. The results show that the smaller the size of the adsorbent and the more the amount added gives a positive effect on decreasing the acid number and free fatty acid content. Production of VCO has low environmental impact because it uses low energy.