Fungal Infection in Stored Arabica Coffee (Coffea Arabica) Beans at Various Stages of the Delivery Chain in South Sulawesi Province

Indonesia has retained its status as the world\u27s fourth largest coffee producer after Brazil, Vietnam and Columbia, in which one of its well-known coffee is originated from Toraja region, South Sulawesi. Because of this, Indonesia has to compete with these countries in producing good quality coffee beans. The objectives of this research were (a) to obtain information on the postharvest handling methods of Arabica coffee (C. arabica) beans in Tana Toraja and North Toraja Regencies, and Makassar Municipality, and (b) to investigate the occurrence of fungi (including ochratoxin A producing fungi) in stored Arabica coffee beans collected from various stages of the delivery chain. Methods used in this study included surveys, interviews and sample collections in each level of delivery chain, which were conducted in May and July 2016. The moisture content and physical quality of the beans were also measured to determine the quality of the beans. The total number of coffee bean samples was 64, consisting of 27 samples from farmers, 15 samples from collectors, 13 samples from traders, and 9 samples from exporters. The results showed that the moisture content of coffee beans collected from farmers and collectors was higher than the maximum tolerable limit determined by SNI (13%), while the moisture content of beans collected from traders and exporters were lower. Based on the total defective value, coffee beans collected from farmers had more diverse grades than those at other levels. Penicillium citrinum was the dominat fungus found in coffee beans collected from farmers, collectors and traders, while Aspergillus Niger was the dominant fungus found in coffee beans collected from exporters. At trader level, 46% of the samples was infected by Aspergillus ochraceus and A. Niger, which are known as OTA-producing fungi. At exporter level, 44% of the samples was infected by A. ochraceus, while 78% of the samples was infected by A. Niger. The postharvest handling methods of Arabica coffee beans conducted especially by farmers and collectors should be improved to minimize moisture content and to increase quality grade of coffee beans

Keanekaragaman Serangga Hama Pala (Myristica Fragrans) dan Tingkat Kerusakannya di Penyimpanan

Pest attack in nutmeg is a cause of major damage both in the field and in storage. Information on the diversity of pest insects in storage, harvesting methods, and good drying needs to be known to reduce the level of damage to nutmeg. This study aims to determine the diversity of insect pests and the percentage of nutmeg damage due to various postharvest treatments. Nutmeg was packed in jute bag and stored for four months under warehouse conditions. Each jute bag containing nutmeg is treated based on the origin of nutmeg (picked from a tree or picked up on the ground), drying method (sunshine or fogging), and shell or without shells with each treatment replicated three times. Sampling of numtag was conducted after four month to calculate the number of each insect species found, determine the insect population, and determine the percentage of damaged seeds. Four insect species were found in nutmeg kernels in almost various treatments. They were Araecerus fasciculatus ((Degeer) (Coleoptera: Anthribidae), Carpophilus dimidiatus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), Oryzaephilus Surinamensis (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Silvanidae), and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). The dominant species was A. fasciculatus. The percentage of damaged kernels derived from nutmeg kernels fallen on the ground, dried either using sun-drying or smoke-drying, either in-shell or without shell, were higher than the kernels derived from ripe fruitswith various treatments. The recommendation of this research result is good postharvest handling of nutmeg to prevent insect infestation should be conducted by collecting nutmeg derived from ripe fruits picked from the trees, nutmeg in-shell either sun-dried or smoke-dried, and storing nutmeg in-shell