As we know, coffee is a refreshing drink that is very popular worldwide and consumed in terms of consumer enjoyment and satisfaction. Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world, with global revenues reaching $68.5 billion, and 15% of it is from instant coffee. However, currently, the main problem felt by the instant coffee industry is production costs, which tend to continue to increase due to the use of excess energy in thermal evaporation and drying, reaching 40.8 MJ/kg of instant coffee.
Therefore, the efforts made by the Vocational School Undip Research Team are to contribute through applied research to reduce production costs and improve the quality of instant coffee to a competitive premium product. For this reason, Vocational School Undip formed a research consortium with collaboration including the Mechanical Design Engineering (RPM) study program and Industrial Chemical Engineering Technology (TRKI) Vocational School Undip, Mitra Industri Kopi Sirap, Workshop Bintang Baru Mas To, CV. Teguh Jaya Ungaran and BILK, Semarang Metal and Wood Industry Center. This effort turned out to be fruitful, so this applied research was funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture through the PTUPT scheme, Higher Education Leading Applied Research for 3 years with the title “Development of a Nano Dispersion Steam Process – Vibro Nano Filtration for the Production of Premium Instant Coffee.”
The development of process integration through a subcritical extractor machine based on nano-dispersed steam and vibro nanofiltration has reduced energy costs for thermal evaporation and drying by up to 30%. The research team with coordinator Drs. Sutrisno, M.T. whose members are Mohamad Endy Yulianto, S.T., M.T.; Didik Ariwibowo, S.T., M.T.; Dr. Eng. Vita Paramita, S.T., M.M., M.Eng.; Ria Desiriani, S.T., M.T. assisted by students Rega Ardiansyah, Anita Carolina, Abitha Monawisya, Belinda Azhara. “The production of premium instant coffee with the development of a highly efficient subcritical extraction system based on nano disperse steaming and vibro nanofiltration is currently in the patent registration process,” said Mr. Tris, his nickname. After the patent has been granted and certified, it can be immediately developed by players in the instant coffee industry. The certification will help solve the problems experienced by the instant coffee industry throughout Indonesia.
Drs. Sutrisno, M.T., the person in charge of this activity, does not need to doubt his work. The owner of 16 patents & IPRs receives competitive research grants yearly. In recent years, even the Institute for Research and Community Service of Diponegoro University (LPPM Undip) has been trusted to carry out community service activities that cannot be separated from his competence. Together with the team, various technological results have been disseminated to industrial players, including zeolite-based adsorption dryers for the pineapple candied industry, mixed flow dryers for the coffee industry, cashew industry and others. This research consortium is excellent because it is supported by competent MBKM (Independent Learning Independent Campus) students with the coordinator, Rega Ardiansyah, a TRKI student class of 2019. Although he has yet to graduate, he has been recruited by the largest petrochemical company in Asia, PT. Lotte Chemical Indonesia. “This cannot be separated from the research that has been carried out with lecturers since the beginning of 2020 until now, which has made them skilled, innovative and competent, in addition to the many competency certificates they have,” said Endy, as a member of the Team and also as Head of TRKI Study Program. Thus, this activity is expected to pioneer the production of competitive premium instant coffee through well-proven technology with royalty sharing in the technology sector.
The results of this research also have an impact on Indonesian agriculture. The impact of the research results is that it will encourage the creation of national independence in producing premium instant coffee, high market potential and mastery of steaming-based hydrothermal extraction technology. These impacts are promising investment attractions for the coffee industry to commercialize premium instant coffee from this research. Commercialization of agricultural-based technology, which results from this research, has high prospects and will encourage economic growth for society, the nation’s independence in producing premium instant coffee will open up new employment opportunities, and the availability of reliable and cheap technology for producing super coffee. Thus, farmer empowerment will develop in coffee cultivation and positively impact community cultural behavior to optimally empower all local agricultural-based potential and form an integrated network of collaboration between researchers from various institutions with the support of existing resources. (SDGs SV Undip)
