Effects of Temperature and Humidity on Fungal Occurrence in Dried Red Pepper during Storage

Dried red peppers are frequently contaminated with mycotoxins during storage. To determine the effect of storage environments on fungal occurrence and subsequent mycotoxin accumulation in dried red peppers, we monitored red pepper powder and whole fruit samples for fungal occurrence under various temperatures and relative humidity (RH) conditions during 340 days. Fungal occurrences fluctuated in both pepper forms throughout the storage but they were higher in pepper powder than whole one, higher under low temperatures (-20°C, 0°C, or 4°C) than others (10°C, 25°C, or 30°C), and higher under RH 93% than RH 51% and 69% in both peppers. The samples exhibiting high fungal occurrences were associated mainly with dominant species such as Aspergillus sydowii, Penicillium solitum, P. roqueforti, P. polonicum, or P. chrysogenum. Mycotoxigenic species, including A. flavus, A. ochraceus, A. westerdijkiae, A. tubingensis, and P. citrinum, were also detected throughout the samples. Although mycotoxins were not detected in the samples, mycotoxigenic potential of A. flavus, A. ochraceus, and A. westerdijkiae isolates were confirmed. These results show that low temperatures (-20°C, 0°C, or 4°C) and/or high surrounding RH (>93%) are not safe environments for storage of dried red peppers as fungal growth can occur under these conditions.

Pepper powder marketing training in Salo Palai Village, Muara Badak District, Kutai Kartanegara Regency

Salo Palai Village is one of the villages in Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan which has the superior commodity of pepper 'Malonan'. Pepper land in Salo Palai Village reaches 169 ha with a productivity of 1.9 tons/ha. The pepper harvest is sold in granular form at a price of IDR 30,000.00/kg and there is no product diversification, such as pepper powder. This is what makes there is no increase in the selling value of pepper that has been produced by farmers. Community service activities in the marketing of powder pepper are expected to be an effort to provide an understanding of the importance of product diversification as an effort to increase selling value. The methods used are tutoring and training. This activity results the pepper powder products in packaged bottles with labels, which are expected to increase values.

Technology transfer of pepper grinders to farmer groups in Salo Palai Village, Kutai Kartanegara

The economy of Salo Palai Village local communities, Muara Badak District, Kutai Kertanegara Regency, relies on plantations, livestock and marine and land fisheries. One of the superior plantation products in Salo Palai Village is pepper commodity. However, there are problems faced including the method of processing pepper is traditional, lack of technology and does not consider quality and cleanliness standards. To reach the world market, it is necessary to pay attention to the quality requirements and consumer tastes. For this reason, the community service aims to improve the quality of pepper in terms of post-harvest processing through assistance in the use of pepper grinders in order to produce pepper powder that provides added value and meets established quality standards. This community service is carried out with workshops covering technology transfer and assistance in the use of pepper grinders, which are expected to open new knowledge and skills for farmers. The results obtained that the local community of Salo Palai Village were able to operate a pepper grinder and were able to produce pepper powder in accordance with the quality standards.

The competitiveness of Indonesia’s pepper export and its challenges

Indonesia is the second-largest pepper (Piper Nigrum L) producer country after Vietnam and followed by India, Brazil, and Malaysia. While Vietnam is the largest black pepper producer, Indonesia is recognized as the largest white pepper-producing country. With the increasing market competition among them in the international market, Indonesia has to increase the market competitiveness of its pepper exports against its competitors. This study aims to analyze the competitiveness of Indonesian pepper exports in the international market by using secondary data from various sources, including from the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture and the International Pepper Community for the year 2018. It focuses on Pepper beans (HS 0900411) and Pepper Powder (HS090412) and uses two methods, namely Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and Export Products Dynamic (EPD). The RCA analysis shows that Indonesia has a comparative advantage as a pepper exporter on the international market, both for pepper beans and powder. However, the results of the EPD analysis revealed that such an advantage is declining. For example, the study revealed that the export of pepper beans from Indonesia to the United Stated is in the lost opportunity position, and to Vietnam and Singapore are in the falling star position. A similar situation occurs for pepper powder where Indonesia’s export to Japan, Netherlands, and Germany are all in the falling star position. Such situations are caused by some challenges Indonesian pepper exports face, including the fulfillment of the good agriculture practices (GAP) in the upstream sector and compliance to international standards.

Effect of Drying Whole and Half Chili Pods Using a Solar Dryer with CaCl2 Desiccant on Quality of Powder Chili

This study investigated the quality of dried whole and half chili pods’ powder dried with solar drying combined with CaCl2 desiccant compared with natural convection solar drying to produce the final chili powder product. Besides the sensory analysis, the quality parameters such as beta-carotene, moisture, vitamin C, and ash content were also observed. The results showed that 57 hours of drying time of whole and half chili pods using solar drying can reach moisture content below 5%. Beta-carotene, ash, and vitamin C contents of the whole chili were higher than those of half chili pods’ dried pepper powder; they were 20.38 ± 0.22 mg / 100 g , 5.81 ± 0.15 % , and 23.99 ± 0.57 mg / 100 g , respectively. This study can guide the red chili drying process based on the quality of the dried chili powder.

The Effects of Garlic and Red Chilli Pepper Powder on Physicochemical, Microbiological, and Sensory Properties of Cincalok

Cincalok, a traditional fermented shrimp, is prepared by mixing rebon shrimps (Acetes sp) with coarse salt and granulated sugar in a certain ratio. This research was aimed at studying the effect of adding garlic and red chilli pepper powder on the physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory properties of cincalok. Cincalok was made to be three recipes, namely, original cincalok, A, consists of 2 kg of rebon shrimp, 400 g of granulated sugar, and 100 g of coarse salt; B (A ingredients plus 20 g of red chilli pepper powder); and C (A ingredients plus 20 g of garlic powder). Sensory analysis was conducted on recipe A, and the colour was observed by the naked eye on days 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28, 33, 43, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180. According to the highest criterion score on sensory results, the panellists chose day 6 as the best fermentation for recipe A. The colour of recipe A started changing from pink to a light brown colour on the surface on day 28. Therefore, the physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory properties of each recipe were analyzed for 28 days. Overall, the water, ash, and fat content; titratable acid (TA); total volatile base nitrogen (TVBN); and amino acid nitrogen (AAN) showed insignificant differences ( p > 0.05 ) among the recipes during 28 days of the same observation. The crude protein, pH, and free fatty acid (FFA) of recipe C were significantly different ( p < 0.05 ) from recipes A and B. All recipes contained the total count of mesophilic anaerobic bacteria (TMABs) and the lactic acid bacteria (LABs) except Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterobacteriaceae for all observation times. The highest criterion score for consumer acceptability was awarded for recipe C followed by recipes B and A. The addition of garlic and red chilli pepper powder affected the physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory properties of cincalok.

Effect of Radio Frequency Low Pressure Cold Plasma on Total Phenol, Antioxidant Activity and Colour Degradation Kinetics of Red Chilli Pepper Powder

The study was aimed to analyse the effect of low pressure cold plasma treatment [operated at 60.8 kPa on the quality parameters of red chilli pepper powder (RCPP)]. The experiments were conducted at two radio frequency power levels (60 W, 120 W) over a time range from 0 to 10 min. Total phenols, antioxidant activity, colour, and moisture content were determined. Results showed that radio frequency operating power and treatment time had significant negative effects (p < 0.05) on the quality parameters analysed. Cold plasma treatment reduced the redness, total phenol content, moisture content, and increased the antioxidant activity of the RCPP. Changes in the quality of the treated samples, especially the colour degradation were significant after 4 min of treatment. Degradation kinetics was determined for parameters studied to ascertain their order of reaction during cold plasma treatment. The order of reaction was decided from best fit models with the highest R2 , minimum bias, and error sum of squares. Total phenol followed a zero-order, whereas antioxidant activity and colour followed first-order reactions. The study explored the possibilities and impact of using cold plasma for powdered food materials.