Heavy Metals Contents in the Edible Parts of Some Vegetables Grown in Candi Kuning, Bali and Their Predicted Pollution in the Cultivated Soil

Vegetables are important for human diet due to their contents including mineral, vitamin, carbohydrate, protein and fibers, but they often associate with poison such as heavy metals derived from lands where the vegetables are grown. This brings us to investigate the contents of some heavy metals, namely Pb, Cu, Cr, and Zn, in edible parts of 10 species vegetables cultivated in Candi Kuning, Bali and to predict the level of pollution in the cultivated soils. Wet digestion method was involved to prepare the samples before determination of the metals using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS). The concentrations of heavy metals in the edible parts of the vegetables were found vary depended on the species and types of the edible parts. The heavy metals contained in edible parts of the ten species of vegetables were approximately in the range of 11.11 to 374.55 mg/kg for Pb; 4.34 to 150.15 mg/kg for Cu; ND (not detectable) to152.82 mg/kg for Cr; and 5.12 to 90.69 mg/kg for Zn. Most of those levels are higher than the permissible-maximum limit regulated by FAO/WHO. Therefore, the agricultural soils in Candi Kuning which is one of the vegetable production centers in Bedugul area of Bali for cultivation of the vegetables could be predicted that were generally polluted by the metals. Lead and chromium were the metals that cause high level of pollution, while copper and zinc were less polluted in the soil. Keywords: heavy metals, vegetables, agricultural soils, pollutio

Pengaruh Suhu dan Waktu Pengeringan terhadap Karakteristik Fisikokimia Buah Naga Merah (Hylocereus polyrhizus (Weber) Britton & Rose) Kering

As one of the horticultural commodities, red dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus (Weber) Britton & Rose)) is easily damages after harvesting. This research aims to determine the effects of temperature and drying time on the physico-chemical characteristics of dried red dragon fruit. The experimental design used in the study was a completely randomized design (CRD) with two factors of treatments and three replications. The first factor was drying temperature with three level of treatments, namely 40, 50 and 60 °C, and the second factor was drying time with three levels of treatments, namely 15, 20 and 25 hours. The each treatment was replicated three times. The one cm thickness of sliced flesh red dragon fruit was oven-dried at the different temperature and the different drying times. The results showed that the dyring temperature of 60 °C and drying time of 20 hours resulted in the best flesh dried fruit based on the color difference between the fleshes dried and the fleshes fresh fruit, texture, yield, water content, water activity, total soluble solids, total tiratable acidity, and vitamin C of the dried fleshes fruit. Keywords: color difference, total soluble solids, total tiratable acidity, water activitySebagai salah satu komoditas hortikultura, buah naga merah (Hylocereus polyrhizus (Weber) Britton & Rose) adalah komoditas yang mudah mengalami kerusakan setelah panen. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh suhu dan waktu pengeringan terhadap karakteristik fisikokimia buah naga merah kering. Rancangan penelitian yang digunakan adalah rancangan acak lengkap dengan dua faktor perlakuan. Faktor pertama adalah suhu pengeringan terdiri atas tiga taraf, yaitu 40, 50 dan 60 °C dan faktor ke-dua adalah lama waktu pengeringan terdiri dari tiga taraf, yaitu 15 jam, 20 jam dan 25 jam. Setiap perlakuan diulang sebanyak tiga kali. Potongan melintang buah naga merah dengan ketebalan 1 cm dikeringkan dengan oven pada suhu dan lama pengeringan sesuai perlakuan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa perlakuan suhu 60 °C dan waktu pengeringan 20 jam menghasilkan buah baga merah kering terbaik berdasarkan nilai perbedaan warna (color difference) antara daging buah segar dan kering, rendemen, kadar air, aktivitas air, padatan terlarut total, asam tertitrasi total, dan vitamin C. Kata kunci: aktivitas air, asam tertitrasi total, color difference, padatan terlarut tota

Physicochemical Characteristics of Fresh-cut Tropical Fruit during Storage

Fresh-cut tropical fruit is increasingly popular currently, stimulated by public awareness of health and practical lifestylefresh-cut fruit presenting consumers' convenience, safety, and quality. Tropical fruit contains functional components that are quite varied and good for health. Mangosteen, Mango, and Rambutan are three exotic tropical fruits that have high economic value and are liked by foreign people. They have a nonedible relatively high and potentially processed into fresh-cut fruit—the process of stripping cutting and slicer, causing wounds that spur damage. During storage, fresh-cut fruits undergo physical-chemical changes—increased respiration rate, ethylene production, oxidation, and browning processes that can shorten shelf life. The damage will be faster if stored at an improper temperature. Fresh-cut fruit is preferably stored at cold temperatures, to extend the shelf life. The research aims to determine the physicochemical characteristics of fresh-cut tropical fruits during cold storage. The research uses a pattern of random group three replicate. The first factor is fruit type (Mango, Mangosteen, Rambutan); the second factor is storage time in cold temperatures (0, 5, 10 days). The variables observed in the study included physical characteristics color (L*a*b*), weight, and texture. Observations of chemical characteristics include moisture content, pH, total acids, vitamin C levels, and total dissolved solids. Freshcut tropical fruit has different physicochemical characteristics and experiences deterioration during cold temperatures. The characteristics of tropical fruit have changed significantly on day 5. Mango shows more significant changes than others, seen from variable moisture content, vitamin C, color, and texture. Meanwhile, based on the physicochemical analysis, rigidity of fresh-cut Mango higher than Mangosteen and Rambutan

Ecogel incorporated with nano-additives to increase shelf-life of fresh-cut mango

Fresh-cut mango is a very popular product commonly consumed due to its health and safety benefits to the community. The rise in cutting results, which increases respiration, ethylene production, oxidation, and browning processes, tends to shorten its life. Edible coating of aloe gel (Ecogel) serves as an additive matrix to extend the life of fresh-cut mango with the incorporation of antioxidant, acidulant, and antimicrobial additives. The edible coating ability is strongly influenced by molecular structure, size, and chemical constituents, with the nanoparticle used to determine the edible coating capability. This study, therefore, aims to determine the influence of incorporation nano-additive material and its concentration to extend the shelf life of the mango. The complete random design was used to determine the factorial pattern of citric, ascorbic, and potassium sorbate acid using a concentration of 0.15, 0.3, and 0.45 %. The mixture of nano-additives consists of citric acid, ascorbic acid, and potassium sorbate at a concentration of 0.15 %, which is the best formulation for Ecogel. The characteristics of fresh-cut fruit coated with Ecogel are suitable at a temperature of 7 ± 1 C until day 6. Therefore, Ecogel prolongs the shelf-life of fresh-cut mango

Colour and Quality of Strawberry fruit (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) at Different Levels of Maturity

Strawberry fruit has five levels of maturity in terms of the color of the strawberry fruit. One of the important factors that affect the fruit's resistance from mechanical damage is the level of fruit maturity. At different levels of ripeness, strawberries have different nutritional content. The strawberries used are obtained from strawberry farmers in Pancasari Village, Tabanan Regency. The level of fruit maturity analyzed was divided into five stages, namely 0, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the red fruit. Based on the ANOVA variety results, the parameters of color, texture, pH, total acid content, total acid content, vitamin C content, and anthocyanin levels of strawberries at different levels of maturity showed very significant differences (P <0.01). Strawberry fruit at the optimal level of maturity obtained the value of L *, namely 18.45, a *, namely 67.04, b *, namely 20.86, texture of 7.46 N, pH of 3.36, total acid of 2.09 (meq NaOH / g), total dissolved solids was 6.40 oBrix, vitamin C levels were 66.24 mg / 100, and anthocyanin levels were 329.07 (mg PGN / 100 g)

Euro-Asian Collaboration for Enhancing STEM Education: EASTEM WP4: Industry engagement and competence integration into STEM educational programs. Deliverable D4

EASTEM is a capacity-building project funded by Erasmus+ (KA2) with the aim of improving employability of STEM graduates from partner universities by ensuring students acquire skills needed in the workplace. Over the course of 3 years (2019-2022) and with a budget of 999.000 EUR, the project brings together 3 universities from Europe and 10 from Asia, creating a platform for partner universities to exchange best practices on student-centered and competency-based STEM education. The EASTEM project is co-funded with support from the European Commission, project (number 598915-EPP-1-2018-1-SE-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP) under the Erasmus+ program. This document reflects only the views of the authors. The Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. This document and its annexes in their latest versions are available from the EASTEM website (www.eastemproject.eu). EASTEM Work Package 4 (WP4) is to facilitate industry engagement and competence integration into educational programs. Building on good case practises from all partner institutions, IMT Atlantique guided partners on how to integrate competence development for students into STEM education programmes and university strategies