IPB University Students Use Hong Kong Caterpillars for High Protein Milk Powder
Usually, the Hong Kong caterpillar is known for chirping bird lovers. Hong Kong caterpillar is widely used as bird feed which is said to be able to increase the stamina of chirping birds to be strong in the contest of singing.
But different things were done by Irfan Nugraha. This IPB University student actually had the idea of using HongKong caterpillar to become a protein isolate that was used as an addition to the milk powder mixture. Together with two colleagues, Ernawa Sindu Sutowo and Rahmadi Gawana Putra, Irfan joined the 2019 Student Creativity Program (PKM) to realize his idea.
“The research we did was isolating the HongKong caterpillar protein (Tenebrio molitor) and then the isolate was added to milk powder. The aim is to enrich the milk powder protein content, “Irfan said.
Armed with the results of previous research, Irfan revealed that the Hong Kong caterpillar has a high protein content which is very suitable for milk powder fortification. According to him, the presence of protein isolates from Hongkong caterpillar is expected to replace whey protein which has been an additional protein in milk powder. Because most of the whey protein is obtained by import.
“Based on research, Hong Kong caterpillar has nutrients including 48 percent crude protein, 40 percent crude fat, 3 percent ash content, 57 percent moisture content. In addition to having high protein, Hong Kong caterpillars also in terms of maintenance do not need a large area and it is very useful in the future where livestock land will decrease, “Irfan said.
The application of fortification to powdered milk can be a solution to meet people’s protein intake. Because basically, powdered milk is now not difficult to obtain. In addition, by utilizing local ingredients such as Hongkong caterpillars, people easily get protein.
“One thing that is our challenge is removing brown pigment from this Hong Kong caterpillar protein isolate. In addition, in terms of flavor, it is expected to be different than commercial powdered milk because the content of amino acid glutamate is quite high from the Hongkong caterpillar, which is 45143.50 milligrams/kilogram so that it hopes to provide a savory distinctive taste, “said Irfan. (AVR)
