ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY AND PSYCHOCHEMICAL OF CASCARA KOMBUCHA FROM ROBUSTA COFFEE
Abstract
Coffee husks are one of the waste products from coffee
processing. Most of the coffee husk waste is just thrown away.
Some have used coffee husk waste to make coffee husk tea
(cascara). Cascara is obtained from the dried husk of coffee
berries and brewed to make tea. Antioxidants found in cascara
act as a barrier against free radicals. Cascara can be fermented
and is often referred to as cascara kombucha. The cascara
kombucha fermentation process will affect the quality of the
cascara kombucha tea produced. Factors that influence the
fermentation process include sugar concentration and
fermentation time. This research aims to determine the effect
of sugar concentration and fermentation time on color, Total
Dissolved Solids (TDS), pH, and antioxidant activity of cascara
kombucha. The design used in this research was a factorial,
Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with two factors. The
factors used were sugar concentration (5%, 10%, and 15%)
and fermentation time (6 days, 8 days, 10 days, and 12 days).
Each treatment was repeated three times. The results showed
that low sugar concentration and long fermentation time
showed a bright color of cascara kombucha. Sugar
concentration and fermentation time significantly affect TDS
and antioxidant activity. However, sugar concentration and
fermentation time had no significant effect on the pH of
cascara kombucha.