KARAKTERISTIK KIMIA DAN SENSORI MINUMAN INSTAN LABU KUNING (Cucurbita moschata) METODE FOAM-MAT DRYING BERDASARKAN KONSENTRASI MALTODEKSTRIN YANG BERBEDA

Pumpkin production is at a fairly high level in Indonesia. This high productivity has not been accompanied by optimal product utilization. Efforts that can be made include processing yellow pumpkins into instant drink powder products. Problems that arise in making instant powdered drinks include the reduction of important substances due to the processing process. Maltodextrin is often used as a filler because it can speed up drying, protect important components of the material, and reduce the level of damage. Therefore, this research aims to determine the appropriate variations in the concentration of maltodextrin to obtain instant drink results that have the best characteristics. This research used a two-factor factorial Randomized Block Design (RBD). The first factor is the Maltodextrin concentration of 5; 7,5; 10; 12,5 and 15% (w/v). The second factor is the treatment of pumpkin juice, namely filtered (100 mesh size) and unfiltered pumpkin juice. The results of the study showed that variations in maltodextrin and differences in pumpkin juice filtration had a significant effect on the antioxidant activity and solubility of the instant pumpkin drink. Meanwhile, for the results of water content, ash content, total carotene, yield, and pH, the interaction between the two treatments had no significant effect. Based on the de Garmo test, the best treatment resulted from the M3B2 treatment (10% Maltodextrin, without filtering) showing a water content of 7,07%; ash content of 1,58%; yield of 11,08%; solubility of 97,28%; antioxidant activity 60,97%; total carotene 0,24 μg/g; pH 4,51; organoleptic taste 4,40 (typical pumpkin); organoleptic aroma 4,30 (typical pumpkin); color 4,83 (neutral); favorability 4,67 (neutral).