Effect of process temperature and percentage of rock sugar on the functional group intensity of red ginger extract

International Journal of Basic and Applied Science 12 (3) (2023) 92-99 Published by: IOCSCIENCE International Journal of Basic and Applied Science Journal homepage: www.ijobas.pelnus.ac.id Effect of process temperature and percentage of rock sugar on the functional group intensity of red ginger extract Amalia Cantika Asyafa1, and Dessy Agustina Sari2 1,2Chemical Engineering Program, Universitas Singaperbangsa Karawang, Indonesia Article Info ABSTRACT Article history: Red ginger has various health benefits that can be consumed in various ways, one of which is an instant powder drink, which is practical and extends the shelf life of the product. The processing process involves cooking at high temperatures with the help of sugar as a crystallization agent. This research aims to understand the effects of temperature and sugar concentration on red ginger extract. The variables used are temperatures of 80 and 90°C and rock sugar concentrations of 60% and 100%. Product evaluation was carried out using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) to identify product functional groups. The research results showed that there were differences in functional group content between solid and liquid samples, both fresh raw materials and dregs. In the solid sample, seven functional groups were identified: N-H, C-H, C-H bending, C-N, C=C, C-C, and C-O. Meanwhile, in liquid samples, only six groups were identified, namely O-H, C=C, O-H bending, C-N, CC, and C-O. Overall, this study shows that the functional group content in fresh red ginger is higher than that in red ginger pulp, even though the temperature is lower. However, if the comparison is between the solid and liquid sample conditions for fresh red ginger with fresh red ginger or dregs with dregs, the content at a cooking temperature of 90°C is higher than 80°C. Apart from that, the higher the rock sugar content in the red ginger pulp, the higher the content of functional groups identified in the extract. Received Oct 18, 2023 Revised Nov 15, 2023 Accepted Dec 27, 2023 Keywords: Agent crystallization; Evaporation; FTIR spectroscopy; Ginger powder; Rock sugar. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license. Corresponding Author: Dessy Agustina Sari, Chemical Engineering Program, Universitas Singaperbangsa Karawang, Jalan HS Ronggowaluyo Telukjambe Timur, Karawang, Jawa Barat, 41361, Indonesia Email: 1. INTRODUCTION Red ginger, which has the scientific name Zingiber officinale Rosc. var. Rubrum, is a type of ginger that belongs to the Zingiberaceae family. Red ginger, also known as sunti ginger, has become a superior choice compared to other ginger varieties [1]. This advantage makes it an important ingredient in traditional medicines and cooking spices [2], [3]. The specialty of red ginger lies not only in its distinctive taste and aroma but also in its active compound content [4]. Red ginger contains high amounts of essential oils, around 2.58–3.90%, which gives ginger its distinctive aroma. Apart from that, red ginger also contains 7–10% oleoresin with phenolic compounds such as gingerol, shogaol, zingeron, flavonoids, and resin, which act as strong antioxidants [5]. Because of its unique properties, the general public often uses red ginger as a traditional herbal medicine [6]. Red ginger is often processed traditionally; however, increasing consumer demand has encouraged the development of more modern instant serving methods [7]–[9], both in powder and Journal homepage: www.ijobas.pelnus.ac.id Int J of Basic & App Sci p-ISSN 2301-8038 e-ISSN 2776-3013  93 liquid form [10], but powder products are more popular because they have a long shelf life, product quality is maintained, and they are not easily soiled [11], [12]. The process of making instant ginger drink powder usually involves heating with the help of granulated sugar as a crystallizing agent and sweetness enhancer [13], as is done by [14], [15]. Apart from granulated sugar, brown sugar has also been used to make red ginger extract [16], and crystal sugar or rock sugar can also be used to make red ginger powder [17]. Crystal sugar is the result of processing granulated sugar with the help of heated water [18] with the aim of dissolving it more easily. The material used to form crystal sugar is a liquid sugar solution that is precipitated or crystallized to produce sugar that looks like crystals. The method of forming crystal sugar, which involves adding water in the process, causes the water content in the crystal sugar to be higher than the water content in granulated sugar. Apart from that, researchers [19] said that the antioxidant levels detected were higher if crystal sugar was used compared to granulated sugar. This is the reason that crystal sugar is able to accelerate crystal formation when heated. As a result, the crystallization time will be faster, preventing the antioxidant content from decreasing [19]. However, even though it is categorized as being able to speed up the extraction process, the acid content in red ginger is able to inhibit crystallization because it is able to carry out the hydrolysis process of sucrose into glucose and fructose [18]. The manufacture of red ginger products is closely related to the rate of the extraction process, with the influence of process temperature. Increasing the process temperature will speed up the extraction process. However, temperatures that are too high can damage the processed material and disrupt the crystallization process [20]. So, the existence of these limitations helps this research focus on the influence of differences in sugar content (60, and 100%), the use of crystal sugar types, and variations in the temperature of the evaporation-crystallization process on the identified functional groups (80, and 90oC). The research involving sugar concentration and process temperature has been conducted by researchers [14], [16], using different types of sugar, namely granulated sugar and palm sugar. Therefore, this study aims to investigate and compare the outcomes of these two types of sugar using rock sugar with representations of commercial powdered products and ready-to-drink products. Supporting equipment for product testing is the use of Fourier transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy on red ginger extract (in phase conditions: solid and liquid). In addition, the reference used to assist this study process will be evaluated by research results [21] using a wavelength range of 400 until 4000 cm-1. 2. RESEARCH METHOD This research uses evaporator-crystallizer equipment to carry out the evaporation process and continue with the crystallization process [8]. Previously, the red ginger raw materials and supporting materials received initial treatment before entering the dissolution process with distilled water [7]. Red ginger extract will be processed at an operating temperature of 80–90oC while also varying the percentage of rock sugar (60 and 100%) to obtain red ginger powder pr (...truncated)