Characterization of the addition of crude extract of yellow pumpkin (Cucurbita maschata) as a natural coloring agent in seaweed wet noodles

The use of pumpkin as a food ingredient can also support government programs to diversify food consumption that is diverse, nutritious, and balanced. Besides containing carbohydrates, pumpkin is also rich in vitamins, especially vitamins A and C which are antioxidants. Carotenoids in pumpkin such as beta-carotene of 1187.23 g/g. It can replace of dye methanil yellow in making seaweed wet noodles. This research was conducted to determine the effect of solvent concentration and extraction time using the Microwave Assisted Extraction (MAE) method using ethanol with solvent concentrations of 75%, 85%, and 95%. The duration of extraction used was 30 minutes, 60 minutes, and 90 minutes. The parameters observed were moisture content, the color of pumpkin extract, the yield of pumpkin extract, and the density of pumpkin extract. This research was conducted 3 times for replication. The study's findings indicated that the relationship between solvent concentration and extraction time both a single factor of solvent concentration and extraction time also had a significant effect on the color of pumpkin extract, yield, and density of pumpkin extract. The extraction using the Microwave Assisted Extraction (MAE) method resulted in a color of 65.56 (b*), a yield of 63.58%, and a density of 48.41g/cm³.