Indigenous Technology of Tapping, Collecting and Processing of Coconut (Cocos Nucifera) Sap and Its Quality in Blitar Regency, East Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Coconut sugar is widely used in Indonesian and other Asian countries cuisine for centuries and also very popular as a natural sweetener in Indonesia, and nowadays it is also becoming popular as a sweetener in some developed countries. This product is still produced in cottage level with a wide quality level and this study tried to investigate the indigenous technology of tapping, collecting and processing coconut sap in Kemloko Village, Blitar Regency and the sugar components of either fresh coconut sap without and with preservative as a raw material in producing coconut sugar. The HPLC analysis of sugar components of samples showed that the fresh coconut sap without preservative start undergoes fermentation as its sucrose content decreasing while its fructose and glucose contents were increased compared to the one with preservative. On the contrary, the sucrose component of coconut sugar prepared using fresh coconut sap without preservative were lower while its fructose and glucose contents were higher compared to the one prepared using fresh coconut sap with preservative. It can be concluded that the indigenous technique of tapping, collecting and processing fresh coconut sap in this area affected the quality of coconut sugar. Therefore, an investigation of better and safer tapping, collecting and processing techniques are crucial needed to improve the coconut sugar quality.