Students of the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia (FMUI), consisting of Farhan Tyo Zahid Akbar, Haidar Hilmi Ramadhan, and Marchella Immanuel Heriyanto, came out as gold medalists in the 2022 Agritech Research and Entrepreneurship Innovation competition organized by the Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Universitas Brawijaya. They won the Poster Competition category for International Research Innovation for Agritech Development with the sub-theme Food and Health Security. The FMUI student team presented their work entitled “Keep Yourself Healthy and Keep the Freshness of the Fish You Eat with C.E.C.E.P: Chitosan Edible Coating for Early Preservation”. This work was compiled based on the issue of formaldehyde abuse, especially in fish, food which is indeed important to maintain its freshness because fish is the meat that is most susceptible to decomposition and spoilage.
Because the price of fish is relatively cheaper and the shelf life does not last long, many Indonesian people and traders end up using formaldehyde for fish preservation. Formaldehyde is commonly used for preservation in funeral homes and cosmetics. The use of formaldehyde will certainly cause various health problems if consumed, said Farhan.
Furthermore, Farhan said CECEP is here as a solution to the problem of preservation, especially in fish. Chitosan is a polysaccharide that can be obtained from the chitin component in crustaceans and cell walls of fungi. Chitosan is an environmentally friendly material (Biodegradable) and has been applied to various products such as antimicrobial coating on food packaging, wound dressings because it is able to form a gel, and has even been used in medicine and tissue engineering.
“Because chitosan has an antimicrobial effect and the ability to form a gel layer, chitosan is used to preserve natural foods such as fruits, fish, and so on. Products that preserve food for our fish products are called Edible Coatings. Currently, there are various materials used for Edible Coating such as acetylase monoglyceride with whey protein, calcium alginate coated with cinnamon, and EDTA with nisin, “said Farhan.
The edible coating used by the FMUI student team is Chitosan combined with glycerol which can increase the storage of fish food ingredients for up to 13 days. “We want to present and invite the public to know more about Chitosan, which is one of the types of Edible Coating with the longest durability so far.
Hopefully this can be a solution for storing fresh fish for a long time without formaldehyde and will definitely improve public health in the long term,” said Farhan. The achievements of Farhan and his colleagues were announced online on Sunday, March 27, 2022.
The success of the FMUI student team in winning the gold medal cannot be separated from the role of lecturers who have provided guidance to them from the preparation period to the implementation of the competition. “Our scientific poster creation was guided by dr. Ardi Findyartini, PhD. For that we express our deepest gratitude to dr. Ardi for his guidance,” said Farhan, representing his friends.
Agritech Research and Entrepreneurship Innovation in 2022 is a competition that was held for the first time under the direction of the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Universitas Brawijaya. Carrying the theme ‘Accelerating the Innovation of Agro-Industry Technology and Business’, this competition was held as the Dean’s response to programs in the field of student affairs aimed at national and international students. The theme was chosen to embrace the idea that innovation in technology and business can accelerate development goals even further.
