Studi Pendahuluan Kadar Lemak, Kadar Protein dan Kadar Karotenoid pada Substrat Ampas Kelapa yang Difermentasi dengan Neurospora Spp

Proses fermentasi dengan kapang Neurospora mampu meningkatkan kualitas gizi bahan pangan. Ampas kelapa adalah limbah bahan pangan yang dapat difermentasi sehingga kualitas nilai gizinya meningkat. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah menguji kadar lemak dan kadar protein dan kadar karoten ampas kelapa yang difermentasi dengan jamur Neurospora sp. Ampas kelapa difermentasi selama 2, 3, 4 dan 5 hari dengan inokulum Neurospora sp. Ampas hasil fermentasi masing-masing kemudian diuji kadar protein dan kadar lemak mengacu pada metode SNI 01-2891-1992 dan SNI 01-2891-1992. Hasil pengukuran menunjukkan terjadinya peningkatan kadar protein dan penurunan kadar lemak pada ampas kelapa selama masa fermentasi. Kenaikan kadar protein paling tinggi sebesar 69.27% dicapai pada hari ke-2 fermentasi dan penurunan kadar lemak paling tinggi sebesar 26.21% dicapai pada hari ke-5 fermentasi. Proses fermentasi juga menaikan kadar karotenoid ampas dari tidak terdeteksi menjadi 1.95 µmol/L. Dari studi ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa kualitas gizi ampas kelapa dapat ditingkatkan melalui proses fermentasi menggunakan jamur Neurospora sp DOI : https://doi.org/10.33005/jtp.v14i2.2456


INTRODUCTION
Neurospora sp, a member of carotenoid pigment-producing fungi group, commonly used in fermentation proses of peanut and tofu waste to produce Indonesian traditional food namely oncom. The oncom cake produced from this fermentation process has known for the bright orange color comes from its carotenoid content (Pahlevi et al., 2008). The fermentation process with the Neurospra sp fungi can improve the nutritional value of food. During the fermentation process, the fungi produce enzymes with high lipolytic activity which hydrolyzes triglycerides to free fatty acids, decreases the percentage of crude fiber and increases protein content and produce some vitamins such as riboflavin, vitamin B 12, provitamin A and other carotenoids compounds (Nurhaita et al., 2012, Nurfaizin andMatitaputty, 2015).
Previous studies have shown the protein content of citrus peel fermented with Neurospores sitophyla increases between 15% to 18% (Shojaosadati et al., 1999). Other type of Neurospra sp also known to produce phytase enzymes (Kanti and Sudiana, 2016), the enzymes of the phosphatase group which catalyze the hydrolysis of phytic acid -indigestible organic from phosphorus organic phosphate-into inorganic phosphate that is easily absorbed in the digestive system (Mullaney E.J., 2000).
Other studies reported that plant-based products fermented with N. sithophyila and N.
intermedia have shown higher antioxidant activity (Tapati et al., 2016), reduce cholesterol levels in blood plasma (Matsuo M. 2000), significantly inhibits the formation of aflatoxin in peanut products (Husein et. al., 2007) and inhibits the formation of toxoflavin and bongkrekic acid in fermented coconut dregs products (Setiarto, 2017). Some fermented food also show the beneficial effect on brain and cognitive function (Kim et al., 2016).

Material
The main materials used were coconut dregs and Neurospora sp derived from oncom

Protein Content Test (01-2891-1992)
The protein content of fermented dregs was tested using the semi-Kjedahl method reffering to

Fat Content Test (01-2891-1992 )
The fat content of fermented dregs was tested using direct-extraction method referring to W: weight of coconut dregs sample (gr)

Carotenoids Content Test
The carotenoids content was tested using spectrophotometric methods. One gram of each dried sample was extracted with 80 mL of acetone, stirred to dissolve the carotenoids the filtered using

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Physical appearance of fermented coconut dregs can be seen in Figure 1. Its appears that the Neurospora sp was able to grow in coconut dregs substrate.  The overall results showed a significant increase in protein content with the highest protein content of 6,28% was achieved on the second day of fermentation process. The increase of protein content in fermented dregs could be due to the conversion of inorganic nitrogen into mold nucleic acids and cells protein during mold growth in coconut dregs (Laelasari and Purwadaria, 2004) and degradation of protein to release peptides and amino acids (Pranoto el al. 2013). Furthermore serine will produce glycine and cysteine (Mark et al., 1996). When the fermentation process was completed, the molds cell and the remaining substrate that was not separated from a mass called Microbial Biomass Product (MBP). The protein will accumulate in BMP thus increasing the protein content in fermented substrate (Muhiddin, 2001). The increase of protein content in fermented products can also occur due to a decrease in carbon content in the substrate related to catabolism of fat, carbohydrates and cellulose on the substrates through the respiration process that produces water and CO2 molecules (Cui et al., 2012). This decrease in carbon content will increase the percentage of protein-forming nitrogen in the remaining substrate.  Neurospora crassa in fermented palm kernel cake (Pratama et. al., 2017).
The carotenoids content of coconut dregs tend to increase during the fermentation process. Fat content (%)

Length of fermentation (days)
results indicate that of fermentation of coconut dregs with Neurospora sp was potential be further developed to produce food ingredients with good nutrition value. Further research should be conducted to discover the biochemical composition of fermented coconut dregs and its effect on health.