The quality assessment on fermented virgin coconut oil treated under microwave heating

Abstract

Abstract The study aimed to evaluate the quality of fermented virgin coconut oil (FVCO) treated under microwave heating. The FVCO was produced by local farmer from Aceh Besar District, the province of Aceh, Indonesia. A home microwave oven Samsung ME731K at frequency of 2,450MHz was used to heat 100ml of FVCO for 10 minutes. The experimental was designed by the variation of microwave power at 4 levels i.e. 0, 300, 450, and 600W. The parameters assessed were temperature, moisture, free fatty acid (FFA), and peroxide value (PV). The data was analysed by using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results showed that the quality of FVCO still could not be improved yet where most of parameters observed did not meet the quality standard of VCO. However, the challenge of using microwave heating to improve the FVCO quality is quite big since the treatment had significantly influenced the FVCO temperature. Further study is highly recommended to treat the FVCO under microwave heating with the improvement in the procedure of observation.