IO, Purwokerto – Students of Jenderal Soedirman University (Unsoed), Purwokerto, continue to make proud achievements. In the Student Scientific Writing Competition (ISWC) held by the University of Makassar, South Sulawesi, three students from the Agricultural Engineering Study Program won 1st place with a work entitled “E-Cotin (Edible Coating Chitosan from Green Seashells): Anti-Bacterial Coating Innovation for maintaining the Quality of Red Chili (Capsicum annuum L) as Efforts to Maintain National Food Security”.
Reza Darmawan, Yoga Aditya, and Panca Cahya Utami, guided by their supervisor, Riana Listanti, presented E-Cotin, which is said to have many advantages: it can inhibit bacterial growth, act as a natural preservative absorbing antioxidants and reduce respiration rate. Besides having the potential to be developed into commercial products, it does not have residue as well.
“The process begins with making chitosan from green clam shells and then dissolving it using acetic acid which has its pH adjusted. E-Cotin was tested on red chilies and was effective at inhibiting bacterial growth. We examined the quality of chilies after 12 days from the characteristics of weight, color, vitamin C content, and level of damage,” said Reza, as quoted by unsoed.ac.id, at the end of November 2020.
Reza and the team expressed their gratitude at being able to participate in this competition and be the best. “Even online, we can still improve our knowledge and participate in scientific competitions. We hope we can compete at a higher level.” (est)