Semarang – Central Java (16/10). Mangunharjo Village is one of the coastal areas that has a very wide mangrove forest area and is in good condition. This area has a lot of potential for local products that can be developed into various valuable processed products. Mangunharjo Village already has several processed products that come from the use of mangrove forests and are worthy of being marketed. However, processed products from existing mangrove forests are still less than optimal in terms of quality and application. This shows that the utilization of mangrove forest products can still be developed to be processed into several other products that also have a selling value.
Dr. Ir. Suryanti, M.Pi as the member of IDBU team explained, “The potential of abundant mangrove leaves in Mangunharjo Village is very large because it can be used as a source of antibacterial and antioxidant, on the other hand not many people have processed it into useful products”. In response to this, the IDBU community service team from Diponegoro University consisted of 3 lecturers, namely Dr. Ir. Suryanti, M.Pi., Ir. Siti Rudiyanti, M.Si., and Churun Ain, S.Pi., M.Si. from the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences. They do community service in Mangunharjo Village by optimizing products from processed mangrove forests, namely by creating products made from mangrove plants so that they can be used as an economic source for the Mangunharjo community.
This service involves Undip students from various disciplines, namely the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, the Faculty of Economics and Business, the Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences and the Faculty of Engineering. This service began in July 2022 with a preliminary study regarding the potential of certain mangrove species that can be used as processed products, followed by the search for raw materials used and taking mangrove leaves of the Rhizophora mucronata and Avicennia alba types in Mangunharjo Village. Furthermore, the manufacture of products from mangrove leaf extract and other materials that have been prepared are conducted. After the product manufacturing process is complete, physical testing is carried out on preservatives from mangrove leaves. Product packaging and labeling are also carried out containing the composition and some information related to the product.
The products for the development of processed mangrove forest products consist of several products such as: hand sanitizer, disinfectant, tea, and hand soap. There are also products that are currently being tested further, namely fish preservatives and lotions from mangrove leaf extract which are still in the process of copyright and patent rights.
Siti Komariah, S.H. as the Head of Mangunharjo Village said, “Mangunharjo Village is grateful for this very useful program, because this service program utilizes Mangunharjo Village’s natural resources, namely mangrove leaves. Indeed we need to add insight regarding what innovations can be shared to our community so that later we hope the idea of product innovation can be turned to increase income for our residents. This innovation can be processed, imitated, and later the products can be sold through MSMEs in Mangunharjo Village.”
