Using Encapsulation Technique, Unud FTP TIP Study Program Students Research the Potential of Cassava Leaves as Natural Dyes

• Posted by: Admin
• Selasa, 30 Agustus 2022
• Has been read 1280 time(s)

One of the students of the Agroindustrial Technology Study Program, Made Ayu Dhava Vagisvari Giri Putri, who is familiarly called Dhava, uses a careful encapsulation technique for dyes from cassava leaves. This research was conducted by Dhava under the guidance of Mrs. Dr. Ir. Ni Made Wartini, M. P. as 1^st supervisor and Dr. I Wayan Arnata, S. TP., M. Si as 2^nd supervisor. This research was able to lead him to get a Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Technology (S.TP.)

 

Encapsulation technique is a method used to coat a core material with the aim of protecting sensitive components from environmental influences. In a study conducted by Dhava using a comparison of maltodextrin-carrageenan as an encapsulant to coat the core material, namely cassava leaf extract which will be used as a natural dye. According to the information provided by Dhava, cassava leaves have a high enough chlorophyll content so that they have the potential to be a natural dye. According to him, the research was conducted to determine the effect of the maltodextrin-carrageenan ratio and the concentration of the encapsulant on the characteristics of the cassava leaf dye encapsulate so that the best treatment was obtained to produce the dye encapsulate from cassava leaf extract.

 

The stages of the research carried out to obtain cassava leaf encapsulates that have the potential to be used as natural dyes are that the cassava leaves are reduced in size and then blanched, after that the cassava leaves are dried in an oven to dry. The dried cassava leaves were mashed using a blender and reduced in size with an 80 mesh sieve to obtain cassava leaf powder. Cassava leaf powder was added with CaCO₃ and dissolved with 85% acetone as a solvent and extracted using the maceration method. After undergoing the extraction process, the cassava leaves were filtered and continued with the encapsulation process using an encapsulated comparison of maltodextrin and carrageenan to obtain an encapsulated cassava leaf dye.

 

As a researcher, Dhava reported that the dye encapsulated from cassava leaves has the potential to be a natural dye and replace synthetic dyes. As previously stated, cassava leaves have a high enough chlorophyll content, so they have the potential to be a natural dye. The results showed that the encapsulated cassava leaf extract contained a total chlorophyll of 11.17 ppm, where chlorophyll b was more dominant with chlorophyll b content of 7.74 ppm while containing chlorophyll a of 3.43 ppm. This natural dye of cassava leaves can be used as natural food coloring.