Zainuri 2021 IOP Conf. Ser. Earth Environ. Sci. 913 012037
Zainuri 2021 IOP Conf. Ser. Earth Environ. Sci. 913 012037
Zainuri 2021 IOP Conf. Ser. Earth Environ. Sci. 913 012037
1. Introduction
Porang (Amorphophallus oncophyllus Prain) has become an essential plant for Indonesia’s farmers in
the last five years, including in West Nusa Tenggara. This type of plant usually grows naturally in the
forest under the perennial trees, where many of them grow on the mountain slopes or along the river [1].
Farmers do not provide any input or special care like other food crops. However, since the demand for
porang products with promising economic value, either in the form of chips and flour from the global
market, has increased recently [2], farmers have started to grow porang by applying good farming
practices and providing agricultural inputs. Considering this potential market, many farmers have started
to grow porang commercially in West Nusa Tenggara province. Developing porang business is essential
for farmers, especially in a marginal area, where the business itself acts as an alternative source of
income and improves land productivity, further increasing the region’s community income.
Among tuber plants, porang is an essential tuber crop as it contains a high amount of carbohydrate
portions consisting of glucomannan, starch, crude fiber, free sugars, and other chemical components [3].
The glucomannan component is essential in porang flour [4], reaching about 87% [5]. Glucomannan is
a hydrocolloid polysaccharide consisting of D-glucose and D-mannose and has a 1-4-glycoside bond
and an acetyl group at the C-6 position [6]. Because of the high content of carbohydrates, porang flour
is an alternative materials food product development and has the potential to support food security.
Glucomannan compounds from porang flour have long been used as food materials in Japan and China.
In Japan, for example, porang flour, also known as konjac flour, is the primary material for konnyaku
and shirataki [7]. Glucomannan content may also play an important role as food additives such as
thickener, texture-forming, and thickener in food processing. Some study carried out recently also
demonstrated that porang flour is adequate for food additives such as thickener, gelling agent, and
stabilizer [8, 9], [10].
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4th International Conference on Bioscience and Biotechnology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 913 (2021) 012037 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/913/1/012037
However, there is another chemical component in porang tubers that needs attention before porang
flour can be used safely as a food material that is calcium oxalate [7]. In plants, oxalate components
exist in two forms: water-soluble oxalates, which bind to Na + and K +, and oxalates that are insoluble
in water, which bind to divalent ions such as Ca2 + and Mg2 + [11]. All forms of oxalate are soluble in
acidic solutions [12]. Oxalate in porang corm is present as a calcium oxalate which is insoluble in water
but dissolves well in acidic solution [13]. It is crucial to control calcium oxalate content in porang
processing since this compound can cause health problems that show some symptoms, including itching
in the mouth, burning sensation, irritation of the skin, mouth, and digestive tract when consumed in large
quantities. In addition, oxalate is an anti-nutritional compound that can inhibit the absorption of minerals
such as iron and calcium in the body [14]. The level of calcium oxalate in porang corm is considerably
high and affected by plant parts, the maturity of the corm, and the time of harvest [15]. In addition,
calcium oxalate levels may also differ among the varieties [16].
Previous research demonstrated that the concentration of oxalate in several crops might be reduced.
Previous research by Lukitaningsih et al. [17] reported that repeated washing three times using 5% salt
solution for 15 minutes could reduce calcium oxalate by 43.07%. In comparison, Chotimah and Fajarani
[18] reported that blanching with a 6% salt solution at 80°C for 30 minutes reduced calcium oxalate by
60%. Kasaye et al. [19] stated that heating and fermentation were effective methods to reduce oxalate
content in cassava and sweet potato flour. Another research has also reported that the fermentation
process for 72 hours can reduce oxalate levels in breadfruit tubers [20]. Research on kimchi also reported
that the anaerobic fermentation process of kimchi for five days reduced the average calcium oxalate
content by 38.50% [11]. In general, the fermentation process in tubers results in changes in several
physicals, chemical, and functional properties of flour. These include changes in the texture of fermented
flour or modified flour that is smoother than the flour without fermentation [21]. Anggraeni and Yuwono
[22] stated that natural (spontaneous) fermentation might affect the physical properties of sweet
potatoes, such as an increase in the brightness of the color and elimination of the unpleasant aroma in
flour. Flour quality may be affected by fermentation times. Wulandari et al. [23] reported that the best
quality of gadung flour was obtained after fermentation for 96 hours. On the other hand, Widyasaputra
and Yuwono [24] revealed that sweet potato fermented for 36 hours produced the best physical
characteristics of sweet potato flour.
Research on the local porang of Lombok and its processing technology that fulfills porang flour
quality requirements is still limited. Because of the region’s high potential porang agribusiness
development, studying an effective technology for porang processing is crucial to support safe material
alternatives for food product industries. This paper describes and discusses the optimizing process to
reduce the level of calcium oxalate content and improve the flour quality of porang locally grown in
Lombok.
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4th International Conference on Bioscience and Biotechnology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 913 (2021) 012037 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/913/1/012037
Table 1. The average calcium oxalate, moisture content, and color value of untreated and treated local
porang flour.
Treatments Calcium Oxalate Moisture content Color
(%) (%) (L) (°Hue)
Control 0.27a 12.5 71.62a 70.51
b b
5% Salt solution 0.23 12.9 67.12 72.65
Blanching for 15 minutes 0.22b 12.4 51.71c 72.71
Salt solution and Blanching 0.13c 11.3 62.15d 67.37
*Value is the mean of three replications. Means followed by the same letter within the same column are not
significantly different (p<0.05).
Unfortunately, the oxalate concentration achieved in this treatment remained far higher than the
threshold calcium oxalate safe level for food materials, which is maximal of 71 mg/100 g or 0,071%
[30]. The decrease in the calcium oxalate level may be associated with its solubility that increases in
water and high temperature. On the other hand, salt or NaCl can be ionized in water into Na + and Cl-.
Based on the fact that when more ions Na+ and Cl- are contained in the solution, more bonds with ion
Ca2+ and C2O42- may occur, producing sodium oxalate (Na2C2O4), which is soluble in water. So that the
oxalate level in the treated porang flour decreased as the compound was soluble in soaking water and
discarded. Goodenough and Stenger [31] stated that the solubility of calcium oxalate in water increases
as the temperature increases. The decomposition reaction of calcium oxalate crystals into calcium oxide
also occurs rapidly at high temperatures [32]. Widari and Rasmito [33] also reported that the longer the
heating process for porang tubers, the higher the decrease in the oxalate level in porang flour.
Furthermore, data in Table 1 showed that 5% salt solution and blanching treatments when applied
alone or in combination between 5% salt solution and blanching did not affect the moisture content and
the color of porang flour. The moisture content level of porang flour in all samples fulfilled the minimum
quality requirement for flour moisture content based on the porang flour standard by the Indonesian
National Standard (SNI 7939:2013) [34] which required the moisture content to be below 13%. In
addition, the color of porang flour samples was also relatively the same among the samples based on the
lightness and the Hue values (Table 1).
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4th International Conference on Bioscience and Biotechnology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 913 (2021) 012037 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/913/1/012037
3.2. The effect of fermentation on the oxalate and glucomannan content of local porang flour
Fermentation technology has been reported to have a significant effect in decreasing oxalate components
in several crops. Fermentation combined with heat treatment reduced oxalate content in tuber crops [19].
Fermentation treatment also reduces oxalate content in breadfruit [20] and kimci [11].
The results obtained by Mayasari [35], a part of our research activity series and used as an
undergraduate thesis, show that fermentation time significantly affected the oxalate content in porang
flour. The longer spontaneous fermentation was carried out, the lower the oxalate content in porang
flour. The average oxalate levels decreased from 5.26% in porang flour from the unfermented corm to
1.9% in porang flour of fermented corn for 60 hours. The average oxalic acid content of the corn
fermented for at least 36 hours was significantly lower than the control or unfermented corm [35].
3.3. The effect of air velocity and mass of the material used on oxalate level
Porang tubers have a high content of glucomannan, an essential component for food product materials,
and contain a high amount of oxalate [7]. Glucomannan is a polysaccharide that has a specific gravity
greater than calcium oxalate in porang flour. With this characteristic, the blowing method may be used
in separating the components in porang flour as the mechanism, which is a moving air stream to separate
the particles based on differences in mass, density, and particle size. Thus, the calcium oxalate with a
lower density will be exhaled and separated from glucomannan [36].
This study separates calcium oxalate from glucomannan by blowing a method using a fluidized
bed. The results from this trial revealed that the treatments significantly reduced the oxalate content in
porang flour (Figure 1). Reduced oxalate occurred in both samples with a mass of 500 grams and 1000
grams.
Calcium Oxalate content (%)
0.35
y = -0.0075x + 0.36
0.3 R² = 0.75
0.25
y = -0.015x + 0.3867
0.2 R² = 0.9643
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Air velocity (m/s)
Mass of materials 500 g Mass of materials 1000 g
Linear (Mass of materials 500 g) Linear (Mass of materials 1000 g)
Figure 1. The regression on the effect of air velocity on the oxalic acid content of porang flour.
Data in Figure 1 indicated that the percentage of calcium oxalate in porang flour decreased as the
airflow velocity (m/s) increased in both sample sizes (mass of 500 g and 1000 g). The oxalate levels in
porang flour with a mass of 500 g using airflow velocities of either 6 m/s, 8 m/s, or 10 m/s were 0.32%,
0.29%, and 0.29%, respectively. Whereas, the calcium oxalate levels of porang flour with the
experimental mass of 1000 g at the same speeds were 0.30 %, 0.26 %, and 0.24 %, respectively. Based
on these values, it can be seen that the results of the separation with a mass treatment of 1000 g are better
than those with a mass treatment of 500 g. This is indicated by the oxalate content remaining in the flour
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4th International Conference on Bioscience and Biotechnology IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 913 (2021) 012037 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/913/1/012037
after the separation process was carried out. The lowest oxalate content (0.24%) was obtained in the
1000 gr mass treatment with an airflow velocity of 10 m/s.
The level of calcium oxalate achieved in this trial has not fulfilled the minimum safe oxalate level
for food materials which has to be less than 0,071% [30] as mentioned before. Other additional
treatments may be needed to get rid of more oxalate from the flour. Sari [37] used variations of grinding
and blowing air to reduce calcium oxalate levels in porang flour. Another previous research also reported
that the best treatment to reduce calcium oxalate levels was grinding and blowing air at a speed of 11.2
m/s. The stamp mill and blowing fractionation process can reduce the calcium oxalate content in iles-
iles flour [38].
4. Conclusion
Based on the results of this research, it can be concluded that the treatment of immersing porang tubers
in 5% salt solution combined with blanching for 15 minutes at 90°C significantly reduced oxalate levels
but still exceeded the minimum allowable requirements. Likewise, the fermentation treatment in this
study has not been effective in reducing oxalate levels to a safe level so that flour can be used as food
materials. Further research needs to be done by combining the treatment of component separation and
chemical purification to obtain safe and quality porang flour.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank the University of Mataram for funding this research activity through
the Professorship Acceleration Grant in the 2021 fiscal year. We also appreciate students and other
colleagues for their help during the trials.
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