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Abstract. Pliek-u is Acehnese’s food heritage that has potential as functional food due to its high
protein and lactic acid contents. The study aimed to investigate the effect of coconut endosperm
composition based on the maturity levels against the quality of pliek-u. Two levels of Tall
Coconut maturities used i.e., over mature (u-riek) and mature (u-pateun). About 2kg of grated
coconut endosperm was fermented in a plastic box for 7 days at 3 compositions i.e., 30% over
mature and 70% mature (P1), 50% over mature and 50% mature (P2), and 70% over mature and
30% mature (P3). Each treatment had been conducted in 3 replications. Then, the coconut was
dried by using solar tunnel dryer type Hohenheim Aceh for 2 days. To produce pliek-u, soon
after the drying process, the warm coconut was pressed by using a hydraulic press. The
parameters observed to evaluate the quality of pliek-u were moisture, fat, protein, and acidity.
The consumer preferences were evaluated from 30 panellists on 4 criteria i.e., aroma, color,
texture and taste by using hedonic scale from 1 to 5. Results showed that the composition of
coconut endosperm at different maturity levels had influenced the quality of pliek-u significantly.
The best moisture was obtained from pliek-u produced by treatment P2, while the lowest fat
content, the highest protein content and the most acid taste were identified from pliek-u produced
by treatment P3. However, according to consumer’s preferences, the best overall acceptance was
pliek-u produced by treatment P1 and P2 at score 4.2 (like). Therefore, this study recommended
the best composition of coconut endosperm in pliek-u processing at 50% over mature and 50%
mature (P2).
1. Introduction
Pliek-u is one of Acehnese’s food heritages produced from coconut endosperm during the coconut oil
production. In the past, the main product expected from this process was oil, but today the main product
objected from this process is pliek-u. In fact, this traditional coconut oil processing has high efficiency
with no waste products [1] since in a batch processing, at least there are 3 products can be derived such
as fermented virgin coconut oil (FVCO), crude coconut oil (CCO), and pliek-u. Therefore, maintaining
the pliek-u processing is highly potential for small agroindustry especially if the quality of all products
produced can be improved [2].
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Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
The 4th International Conference on Agriculture and Bio-industry (ICAGRI-2022) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1183 (2023) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1183/1/012004
Since long time ago, Acehnese believe that FVCO is very important for family health for example to
treat itching at skin, to reduce fever, etc. The microorganisms involving in pliek-u processing had been
identified; there are about 6 strains of fungi i.e., Microascus sp., Sordaria sp., Curvularia sp., Thicurus
sp., Acremonium sp, and Gonytrhicum sp. [3]. In another study, it was identified that the isolated bacteria
from pliek-u can be used to produce probiotic formula and fermentation food [4]. Recently study showed
that the antimicrobial activity of pliek-u, FVCO, and CCO had shown significantly against seven
bacterial strains (i.e., Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis,
Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Pseudomonas fluorescens) and pathogenic fungi
Candida albicans [5]. In addition, the potential of linoleic acid from pliek-u as a drug candidate for
atopic dermatitis treatment [6], as antibacterial activity at concentration of 5% [7], and as
antibacterial activity at concentration of 4% against Staphylococcus aureus [8]. Therefore, pliek-
u can be suggested as functional or healthy food for the community [5].
In one hand, the quality of FVCO, CCO, and pliek-u has high variation among producers and tends
to be low indicated from low market acceptance. A survey on 3 pliek-u processors had summarized that
there were no standard in processing method that led to the different quality of the products; the maturity
level of coconut used was suggested as one factor to influence the product quality [9]. To support this
tradition, some studies had been conducted to improve the quality of FVCO by using microwave heating
[10–12]. There was also an effort to improve the quality of CCO by using active charcoal from coconut
shell in filtering process [13]. A study had shown that pliek-u produced by processors in Tanoh Anoe
Village, Jangka Sub District, Bireun District, Province of Aceh had contained 18.8% of water, 32.34%
of fat and 4.63% of ash; after the optimization under the variation of drying temperature, the moisture
of pliek-u reduce to 0.23% at temperature of 55°C for 7h [14]. The use of proper drying tool such as
solar tunnel dryer type Hohenheim could dry pliek-u at moisture lower than 10% [1]. By the application
of solar tunnel dryer type Hohenheim Aceh and hydraulic press, the yields of CCO and pliek-u were 9.7
to 13.8% and 20.5 to 24.6%, respectively [15]. At moisture lower than 10%, the shelf life of pliek-u
could be extend to 32 months if it is stored at room temperature [16]. The length of fermentation stage
had influenced the pliek-u quality and it was recommended to apply 7 days fermentation for the most
acceptable organoleptic preferences [17]. However, the study on the influence of the maturity level of
coconut has not been conducted yet. Hereby, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of coconut
endosperm composition based on the maturity level against the quality of pliek-u.
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The 4th International Conference on Agriculture and Bio-industry (ICAGRI-2022) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1183 (2023) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1183/1/012004
The production steps of pliek-u can be seen in Figure 1. A piece of cloth was used to cover the plastic
box and the samples were stored for 7 days at room temperature to led the fermentation process (Fig.
2a). The stirring process was done once a day by using hand to improve the uniformity of fermentation
process. Then, the fermented coconut was dried by using solar tunnel dryer type Hohenheim Aceh for 2
days (Fig. 2b). The drying process was carried out until the coconut’s color turn to dark brown and it
was ready to press if the coconut milk was not released anymore. The pressing process was done by
using a hydraulic press system to separate the CCO and pliek-u (Fig 2c). Then, pliek-u was stored in
plastic bag for the quality and sensory analysis.
Preparing coconut
Fermentation
endosperm by
7-10 days
grating
Drying
Pressing
1-3 days
(a)
(b) (c)
Figure 2. Pliek-u processing: the fermentation process (a), the drying process (b) and the pressing
process (c)
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The 4th International Conference on Agriculture and Bio-industry (ICAGRI-2022) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1183 (2023) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1183/1/012004
The fat and protein contents were analyzed following the Indonesian National Standard No.01-2891-
1992. The fat analysis following Soxhlet extraction method had been conducted by extracting the sample
in hexane solution for 6h, then the results of extraction was dried at 100°C until constant weight and fat
content was calculated following Eq.1. The protein was analyzed by using Kjeldahl method through
digestion, neutralization, and titration. The protein content was calculated by using Eq.2 under
assumption that the correction factor (FC-value) was 6.25 and the diluent factor (FD-value) was 100.
𝑤1
𝑓𝑎𝑡(%) = 𝑥 100%
𝑤 (1)
(𝑣1 − 𝑣2 )𝑥𝑁𝑥0.014𝑥𝐹𝐶𝑥𝐹𝐷
𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑛(%) = (2)
𝑚
Where:
𝑤 : Sample weight (g)
𝑤1 : Fat weight (g)
𝑣1 : Volume HCl of sample titration (mL)
𝑣2 : Volume HCl of blanko (mL)
𝑁 : Normality of HCl
𝑚 : Sample weight (g)
A set of questionnaires was used to get the information about consumer’s preferences on aroma,
color, texture, and taste of the samples. The organoleptic test was also conducted on 30 panellists
following the hedonic test procedure by using scale 1 to 5, where 1 refers to extremely dislike, 2 for
refers to dislike, 3 refers to neither like nor dislike, 4 refers to like and 5 refers to extremely like.
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The 4th International Conference on Agriculture and Bio-industry (ICAGRI-2022) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1183 (2023) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1183/1/012004
process since the depth of 30cm was better than the depth of 10 and 20cm [15]. Further investigation
could be conducted on the fermentation process to evaluate the temperature, humidity, amount of
coconut used, dimension of fermentation tank, and also the number of fungi and bacteria involved in the
process.
Table 2 also shows that the moisture of pliek-u vary from 17.88 to 26.55%. Analysis of variance had
shown a significant influence of treatments to the final moisture of pliek-u. The lowest moisture was
obtained at proportion of 50% for each maturity level (P2). However, the moisture of pliek-u produced
by treatment P2 was not significantly different from the moisture of pliek-u produced by treatment P1
(combination of 30% over mature and 70% mature). In contrast, the moisture of pliek-u produced in
previous study was much lower in range of 4.4 to 6.4% [15]; 8.3 to 9.4% [17]; and 1.8 to 12.8% [20].
This lower moisture could be achieved as the use of solar tunnel dryer type Hohenheim Aceh. While,
high moisture above 14% should be obtained in conventional sun-drying method, for example 18.8%
[14]. Lower moisture content of pliek-u could be achieved by prolonging the drying time more than 2
days when the weather was not good for drying.
c b
28.46
a
30 27.54
25.45
25
Fat content (%)
20
15
10
0
P1 P2 P3
Treatments
Figure 3. The fat content of pliek-u as the influence of composition of coconut endosperm at two
maturity levels; P1 30% over mature and 70% mature, P2 50% over mature and 50% mature, and P3
70% over mature and 30% mature; means followed by the same letters are not significantly different at p <
0.05 according to Duncan
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The 4th International Conference on Agriculture and Bio-industry (ICAGRI-2022) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1183 (2023) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1183/1/012004
The composition of fat in fresh coconut endosperm was about 19.25 to 37.11% varied among the
varieties [18]. After fermentation, drying, and pressing step, the fat content of pliek-u was about 4.94%
[21]. However the fat content of pliek-u was also reported about 32.34% [14]. It can be learnt from this
study that the maturity levels of coconut endosperm would influence the fat content of pliek-u. The
increase of maturity levels will contribute to the increase yield of CCO then it will affect the lower fat
content of pliek-u. It was reported previously that the fermentation would reduce the fat content of
products [19]. In addition, the proper pressing step is very important to reduce the fat content in pliek-u
as well as to increase the yield of crude coconut oil (CCO). High amount of fat content should be avoided
since it will contribute to the decrease quality of pliek-u by increasing rancidity during storage.
35
a b b
30 28.31 28.72
27.64
Protein content (%)
25
20
15
10
0
P1 P2 P3
Treatments
Figure 4. The protein content of pliek-u as the influence of composition of coconut endosperm at two
maturity levels; P1 30% over mature and 70% mature, P2 50% over mature and 50% mature, and P3
70% over mature and 30% mature; means followed by the same letters are not significantly different at p <
0.05 according to Duncan
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The 4th International Conference on Agriculture and Bio-industry (ICAGRI-2022) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1183 (2023) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1183/1/012004
endosperm is probably the same as coconut water. The pliek-u processing through fermentation is
believed to increase the acidity of pliek-u as the activity of lactic acid bacteria [4]. Commonly, the more
acid the pliek-u the more preferable by consumers.
7 c
6
5.74 b a
5.04 4.79
5
pH value
4
3
2
1
0
P1 P2 P3
Treatments
Figure 5. The acidity (pH value) of pliek-u as the influence of composition of coconut endosperm at
two maturity levels; P1 30% over mature and 70% mature, P2 50% over mature and 50% mature, and
P3 70% over mature and 30% mature; means followed by the same letters are not significantly different at p
< 0.05 according to Duncan
6
4,9 4,9 4,7 4,8 4,7 4,7
5
4,0 4,2 4,2
3,8 3,7
Hedonic score
4 3,6
3,2
2,9
3 2,6
0
P1 P2 P3
Treatments
Figure 6. The consumer preferences on pliek-u as the influence of coconut endosperm based on
composition at two maturity levels; P1 30% over mature and 70% mature, P2 50% over mature and
50% mature, and P3 70% over mature and 30% mature; 1 for extremely dislike and 5 for extremely
like; 30 panellists
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The 4th International Conference on Agriculture and Bio-industry (ICAGRI-2022) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1183 (2023) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1183/1/012004
However, based on the aroma and taste properties, the consumers had chosen the pliek-u produced
by treatment P3 as the best with score about 4.7 (extremely like). It could be influenced by the better
chemical quality in term of lowest fat content, highest protein content, and the sourer taste. The worse
taste was pliek-u produced from treatment P1 with score of 3.2 (neither like nor dislike). Last but not
least, in average, the consumers preferred pliek-u produced by treatment P1 and P2 at score of 4.2 (like).
Results showed that aroma had consistency score with taste while color had consistency score with
texture. There was high deviation about consumer preferences on sample pliek-u produced by treatment
P3, extremely like for aroma and taste but neither like nor dislike for color and texture. Finally, we
should take into consider that the decision to buy the product is not only based on the aroma and taste
criteria. The texture was also contributed to the consumer attention to the product besides taste [24].
4. Conclusions
In conclusion, the composition of coconut endosperm based on the maturity levels of Tall Coconut had
influenced the chemical and sensory quality of pliek-u significantly. The best composition of coconut
endosperm according to its maturity level is 50% over mature and 50% mature (P2) since it has lowest
moisture content, moderate fat and acidity and high protein content, and high hedonic score for color,
texture, and overall performance. It is very important to put this finding as a standard procedure in pliek-
u production. For further study, it is recommended to evaluate the age of local terms used for coconut’s
maturity (u-pateun and u-riek), and to investigate some efforts on improvement the quality of pliek-u by
using some factors such as the temperature and humidity during fermentation, the amount of coconut
used in a batch fermentation, and the dimension of fermentation tank.
Acknowledgments
We highly acknowledge the University of Syiah Kuala for financing this work through the Penelitian
Unggulan Universitas Syiah Kuala, grant number: 88/UN11.2.1/PT.01.03/PNBP/2022.
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