Karakteristik Pengering Efek Rumah Kaca Tipe Terowongan Terhadap Kualitas Minyak Nilam
Authors: Satria Riski , Fachruddin Fachruddin , Nurba Diswandi 
Published: May 2023

Abstrak. Minyak atsiri adalah salah satu minyak yang dihasilkan dari bagian batang, kulit, daun, akar, bunga dan berbagai bagian tumbuhan yang lain dengan proses penyulingan. Salah satu minyak atsiri adalah minyak nilam, dalam dunia perdagangan minyak atsiri dikenal dengan nama Patchouly Oil. Walaupun tanaman nilam telah dibudidayakan  selama hampir 100 tahun, namun sampai sekarang masih banyak teknologi pengolahan masyarakat masih konvensional sehingga kualitas minyak yang dihasilkan masih rendah. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode pengeringan efek rumah kaca tipe terowongan dan pengeringan konvensional. Analisis kualitas minyak nilam yang diamati meliputi kadar air nilam, rendemen, warna, bobot jenis, indeks bias, dan kelarutan dalam etanol 90%. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kadar air nilam hasil pengeringan efek rumah kaca hanya membutuhkan waktu selama 1 hari untuk mengeringkan nilam dan menghasilkan kadar air rata-rata yaitu 22,45%, sedangkan pengeringan konvensional rata-rata kadar air yaitu 22,93% dan memerlukan waktu 2 hari untuk mengeringkan nilam. Hasil Rendemen dengan pengeringan efek rumah kaca menghasilkan rata-rata rendemen yaitu 0,40% sedangkan pengeringan konvensional menghasilkan rata-rata rendemen yaitu 0,39%. Warna minyak nilam dengan pengeringan konvensional dan pengeringan efek rumah kaca menghasilkan warna coklat kemerahan. Bobot jenis minyak nilam pengeringan efek rumah kaca rata-rata 0,966 sedangkan pengeringan konvensional rata-rata 0,954. Hasil indeks bias minyak nilam pengeringan efek rumah kaca yaitu sebesar 1,509 sedangkan pengeringan konvensional sebesar 1,508. Kelarutan dalam etanol 90% minyak nilam  pengeringan efek rumah kaca lebih baik karena jernih rata-rata pada larutan 1:9, sedangkan pengeringan konvensional jernih rata-rata pada larutan 1:10, dimana minyak nilam yang mudah larut dalam etanol 90% maka kualitas minyak nilam semakin baik. Berdasarkan kadar air dan kualitas minyak nilam seperti warna, bobot jenis, indeks bias dan kelarutan dalam etanol 90% merupakan pengeringan efek rumah kaca lebih baik secara kuantitas dan kualitas dibandingkan dengan pengeringan konvensional.Characteristic of tunnel type dryer of greenhouse effect on the quality of patchouli oil Abstract. Essential oil is the type of oil derived from stem, bark, leaves, root, flower, and other parts of plant through the process of distillation. One type of essential oil is Patchouli oil which is known as patchouli oil in the trading world. Even though patchouli plants have been cultivated for almost 100 years, the technology used to process the oil is still conventional that cause the oil quality to be low. This research utilized two methods which are greenhouse effect drying and conventional drying. The analysis of oil quality was done by observing the oil moisture, yield, color, specific gravity, refractive index, and its solubility in 90% ethanol. The result shows that the patchouli moisture by using the greenhouse effect drying needs one day to dry patchouli leaves that later produces moisture at the average of 22.45%. By using conventional drying, it took 2 days to dry that resulted in the moisture at the average of 22.93%. The result of oil yield out of the greenhouse effect drying is 0.40% in average, while by using the conventional drying the oil yielding resulted in 0.39% in average. As for the color of patchouli oil by using both the greenhouse effect drying and conventional drying result in reddish brown. The average specific gravity of patchouli oil by using the greenhouse effect drying is 0.966 at the average, while it resulted in the average of 0.954 by using conventional drying. The refractive index of patchouli oil by using greenhouse effect drying is at 1.509, while by using conventional drying is at 1.508. The solubility of patchouli oil in ethanol 90% ethanol using greenhouse effect drying is better with the ration of 1:9 to solution. However, the solubility of patchouli oil in 90% ethanol using conventional drying in ratio is 1:10. This means that the more soluble oil on 90% ethanol, the better the quality of the patchouli oil. Based on the moisture and patchouli oil quality like its color, specific gravity, refractive index, and solubility in 90% ethanol, it shows that greenhouse effect drying is better in quantity and quality than conventional drying.