Karakteristik ikan bulan-bulan (Megalops cyprinoides) dan potensinya sebagai tepung untuk fortifikasi pangan

Abstract

Fish is very good for health because it contains various important nutrients such as protein, fat, and minerals. Food fortification uses fish’s sources is an effort to obtain physiological effects and improve the nutritional status of fortified foods. This study aims to examine the potential of Bulan-bulan fish (Megalops cyprinoides) as flour for food fortification. This research was divided into two stages, namely characterization of the fresh fish and preliminary analysis of its potential as fish flour. The data obtained were analyzed descriptively. The results showed that the edible portion of fresh fish was only 42.81%, whereas the remaining of 57.19% was processing waste. The fish had a high protein content of 21.43%, fat content was 13.32%, ash content was 12.80%, moisture content was 42.29% and carbohydrate content was 10.19%. The yield of the fish flour was 22.75%, with sensory characteristics: powdered form; clean, normal, and bright appearance; bright brownish yellow color; specific aroma; non-lumpy and quite dry texture. The Protein content of the fish flour was 55.44% which comply with the protein’s requirement of quality II fish flour.