Fermented Starch: Production Testing of Process Stabilization

Abstract

Tapioca is one of starch product that is widely produced in Indonesia. The use of tapioca, especially from modern industry, as an ingredient of various food products (such as fish cake, crackers) is often limited by physicochemical characteristics, for example, swelling power, solubility, and viscosity causing limitation in its use. Therefore, tapioca needs to be modified to yield the desired characteristics. In this research, tapioca is modified through fermentation using microorganism. Starch modification via fermentation provides new chemical groups or change of shape, size and molecule structure. The fermented starch is made from fresh cassava planted by National Laboratory of Starch Technology (B2TP) in Lampung-Indonesia and starter of fermentation is lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Fermentation is carried out for five days at room temperature. Fermentation product is dried under the sun. The quality stabilization of fermented starch is observed through its functional characteristics including paste clarity, swelling power, and expanding capability. The research conducting in flask scale in B2TP obtains fermented starch with a relatively stable characteristic, especially in expanding capability, around 3.07-5.26 mL/g. The quality stabilization of fermented starch has to be maintained to preserve the desired product characteristics.