UNAIR NEWS – Management of industrial waste requires a very high cost so that it does not have a bad impact on the surrounding environment. But apparently some waste can be processed into commodities that have economic value. One of them is sugarcane and tofu waste.
Dr. Isnaeni, MS., Apt, a lecturer of Faculty of Pharmacy UNAIR explained that in 2015, sugar production in Indonesia reached 2.49 tons to meet domestic needs. The high capacity of sugar production then has an impact on the abundance of sugarcane waste.
“Molasses is a process of making sugar obtained from the separation of syrup. In Indonesia molasses are usually used as an alternative to animal feed and raw material for making mono sodium glotamate (MSG), “explained Isnaeni.
Besides sugar, another product that has nutritional value in its waste that is still suitable for consumption is tofu. Tofu production in Indonesia is quite high considering that tofu is one of the people’s daily food that is easily processed and consumed. Moreover, the protein content in tofu is also high at a low price.
In Indonesia, tofu waste is used more often for traditional food and improves animal nutrition such as for local sheep. While in Japan, tofu waste is processed and utilized and sold in the market as an alternative raw material, a mixture of cakes and bread.
Utilization of molasses and tofu was can also be used as a component of fermentation media for the production of cell biomass and anti-microbial metabolites from the bacterium Streptomyces sp. In research conducted by Isnaeni and the team, it was known that both sugar and tofu waste can influence cell activity to produce antimicrobial compounds from these bacteria.
“Productive soil microbes produce tens of thousands of antibiotic compounds and some have been used in clinics. For example, rifampicin, erythromycin, streptomycin and kanamycin, “he continued.
In an effort to use the two waste as fermentation media, it is necessary to pay attention to the standardization of nutrient content. In molasses, it is important to consider total sugar level, reduction sugar and sucrose sugar while tofu waste needs to be tested for some of the same parameters as molasses beside its protein and crude fiber content.
Then, the antibacterial activity test is carried out by the diffusion method in order to evaluate the concentration of molasses and tofu waste, followed by making a media formula that contains tofu pulp and molasses at optimal concentration.
“The combination of molasses and tofu pulp as a component of fermentation media produces active metabolites against Eschericia coli ATCC 25922 with an inhibition of 1.7 times greater than the ISP-4 media (other antibiotic production media, ed),” he stated.
Author: Galuh Mega Kurnia
Editor : Khefti Al Mawalia
Reference : Isnaeni., Hamida, A. A. & Nasution, N. E., 2019. Effect of sugar cane molases and tofu waste on the inhibitor activity of cell free fermentation broth of streptomyces antibioticus K-6. Pharmaciana, 9(2).
Link : http://journal.uad.ac.id/index.php/PHARMACIANA/article/view/13808
