Innovative Techniques for High-Quality White Copra Production: The Role of Sulfur Smoke and Kubung Dryers

¹ Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Lancang Kuning, Pekanbaru 28261, Indonesia
² Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), Fuchu 183-8509, Japan
³ Department of Agricultural Product Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Lancang Kuning, Pekanbaru 28261, Indonesia
⁴ Department of Plantation Crop Agribusiness, State Vocational High School 1 Kempas SMKN 1 Kempas, Indragiri Hilir 29261, Indonesia

Abstract

Copra produced by farmers is below the set quality standards, with characteristics: brown in color, smells of smoke, moisture content is quite high around 15 22% so it is easily attacked by microorganisms. So there needs to be innovation for the process of making copra, one of the innovations in processing coconut into copra using Kubung. Kubung is a copra dryer that uses the sun as a heat source and sulfur smoke as an inhibitor of fungal growth in copra. The result of the copra processing process using the farmer’s cobop is called white copra. Kubung is tested in kempas village The dryer was assembled and tested in Kempas Jaya Village, Kecamattan Kempas, Indragiri Hilir Regency in January – April 2024. The results of the study showed that the copra produced from the A0 treatment was overgrown with 70% of the copra surface, the A1 and A2 treatments were not overgrown with mold. The aroma of copra produced on A0 is rotten, the A1 treatment of copra aroma is very dominant and A2 has a strong sulfur aroma. The use of sulfur smoke from 1 kg of sulfur was proven to be good for inhibiting fungal growth and producing the best copra in this study. This study not only addres the quality issues in traditionally processed copra, but also improves copra’s market value and storage.