Sulawesi endemic tubers and perimedular flour properties an initial consideration for alternative sources for food starch ingredient

E.M Moko,J Ngangi,D Rahardiyan,A Yalindua

doi:10.26656/fr.2017.6(2).165

Abstract

North Sulawesi is located in the North-Eastern regions of the Indonesian Archipelago. As it is with most parts of Indonesia, North Sulawesi is dependent on rice as their staple food. Not all islands within the North Sulawesi cluster of islands can grow paddy or corn for their carbohydrate needs or starch ingredients in their diet and must have them shipped from other places with the dire consequences of transportation costs. The endemic biodiversity of these islands also has many plants with the potential as an alternative food carbohydrate source. This study was to explore these endemic plants for potential food ingredients for starch replacements for rice and corn. The many diversities available for these starch ingredients amongst them are tuber sources (Taro – Colocasia esculenta, Dalugha – Cyrtosperma merkusii, Gembili – Discorea esculenta and Banggai – Discorea alata) and perimedular sources (Sago Tanah and Sago Baruk). Many studies have researched these plants individually in various originating from many other parts of the world, but not many have made a head-to-head comparison and explored the potentials of these underutilized plants as starch food ingredients. This study extracted starches of these plants in a standardized manner and compared the properties side-by-side. These plants were found to be potentially healthy alternatives to rice as functional food starch with lower digestibility which would lead to lower GI staples, especially for the livelihoods of North Sulawesi coastal dwellers.

Highlights

Indonesia’s food security to date has been very dependent on rice as the major staple food of the people
Samples of taro tubers (Colocasia esculenta), dalugha tubers (Cyrtosperma merkusii), banggai tubers (Discorea alata), gembili tubers (Discorea esculenta), sago tanah perimedulars (Tacca leontopetaloides) and sago baruk perimedulars (Arenga microcarpa) are all collected from the island clusters of Sangihe Regency and Talaud Regency, of the Northern islands of North Sulawesi
Differences may have been due to the different methods of drying, temperature and initial conditions of the tubers

Summary

Introduction

Indonesia’s food security to date has been very dependent on rice as the major staple food of the people. In some corners of the archipelago, these tubers and perimedular foods are staples or used to be staples from long lost cultures of the older generations. Nowadays these foods have lost their popularity amongst the younger generations. Roots and tuber food crops are considered an important food source in the global food supply with wide applications since the roots are good storage of food starch materials (Chandrasekara et al, 2016). These tubers and perimedular crops are endemic to most parts of the Indonesian archipelago but are much underutilized. They are an abundant source of food starch ingredients

Methods

Results

Conclusion