Dr.Eng Vita Paramita, S.T., M.M., M.Eng., a lecturer in the Industrial Chemical Engineering Technology (TRKI) Department, Vocational School Undip, received an award from the Academic Directorate of Vocational Higher Education for the category of Intellectual Property (IP). The Appreciation Event of the Directorate of APTV Kemendikbudristek with the theme “Implementation of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education Through the Directorate of Academic Higher Education Program,” attended by all universities under Diksi, was recently held at the Sahid Jaya Hotel & Convention in Yogyakarta.
The Directorate General of Diksi Kiki Yuliati opened the award program, saying that the award was given for the dedication and contribution of the lecturer’s performance. This appreciation is a step to motivate and encourage vocational universities to continue improving the quality of education. One of the aspects of the lecturer’s performance is in the form of Intellectual Property, which is the achievement of external research activities and community service.
Vita said that downstream research with the Research Team of Mohamad Endy Yulianto, S.T., M.T., Prof. Dr. Eflita Yohana, Dr. Indah Hartati, Dr. Dadan Rohdiana, Didik Ariwibowo, S.T., M.T. and Drs. Sutrisno, M.T. organized the Higher Education Excellence Development Research (PPUPT) scheme funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. Research with the theme “Commercialization of Caffeine-Free Green Tea Nano-Pholyphenol Products as Functional Food Incorporation through Enzymatic Inactivation Technique” is an innovation in producing caffeine-free green tea. Research with TKT (Technology Readiness Level) 7-8 is currently implemented in the Green Tea industry partner PPTK Gambung Bandung and is ready to be produced en masse.
Vita said the background of the research that green tea that contains polyphenol compounds such as catechin, epicatechin, epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, epigallocatechin gallate and gallic acid, are stated to have anti-cancer activities, preventing cardiovascular disease, obesity, and other degenerative diseases. The breadth of the spectrum of pharmacological activity of green tea polyphenols encourages its incorporation process in various food products such as bakery, biscuits, doughnuts, cookies, bakpia, pudding, bakpao, ice cream, cheese and other functional foods. However, the food industry requires the incorporation of caffeine-free green tea powder to have very high health effects. Therefore, a process is needed to remove caffeine from green tea powder through a blancing process that aims to activate the enzymes polyphenol oxidase and hydroperoxide and extract caffeine.
Incorporating green tea powder for food and nutraceutical products is limited by the bitter taste of polyphenols and their epimerization at high temperatures with alkaline pH, which impacts the decrease in polyphenol activity. “For that, it is necessary to apply the production of bioactive powders with polyphenol encapsulation techniques using liposome biopolymers that can protect bioactive compounds against chemical and physical resistance, increase bioavailability, provide products with high stability, and give opportunities to control the release of material core compounds at the target,” explained Vita.
Vita also added that liposomes are small-molecular surfactants and consist of amphiphilic phospholipids that are effective for nanoemulsion fabrication using a low-energy approach because of their structure that tends to form bilayers and form closed vesicles and have specific properties that are slightly soluble in water with critical micellular concentration (CMC) values between 10-8–10-12 M. Liposomes have been widely applied as encapsulation ingredients for pharmaceuticals and nutritional nutrition due to their stability and safety in applications for food and medicine.
The team has collaborated with the green tea industry, Gambung Tea and Kina Research Center (PPTK) in South Bandung and various green tea industries to develop commercial products of caffeine-free green tea powder. The commercialization of nano polyphenols will have high potential considering the global market value of nanomaterial products, and their incorporation products are expected to increase by 50%, so the results of this commercial research can be helpful for people who consume substitute food or drinks as a balance of diets rich in fat and cholesterol,” said Vita.
Meanwhile, the Dean of Undip Vocational School, Prof. Dr. Ir. Budiyono, M.Si., admitted that he was grateful for the achievements achieved by the Undip Vocational School lecturers and added to the list of the accomplishments of Undip Vocational School lecturers. These achievements are proof of how the performance of the Vocational School academic community is recognized at the national level. “We hope that research activities at Undip Vocational School continue to innovate and develop and join hands to answer societal problems and produce solutions together,” said the Dean of Undip Vocational School.
