Perubahan Atribut Mutu dan Umur Simpan Beberapa Jenis Cabai Pada Berbagai Kemasan dan Suhu Penyimpanan (The Quality Atribute Change and Shelf Life of Several Types of Chili on Various Packaging and Storage Temperature)
Authors: Musaddad Darkam , Rahayu Suwarni Tri , Levianny Poetry Sari 
Published: October 2019

<p>Kemunduran mutu cabai segar setelah dipanen dipengaruhi oleh faktor lingkungan. Pengemasan dan penyimpanan suhu dingin merupakan bagian dari upaya untuk menekan kemunduran mutu. Tujuan penelitian untuk mengetahui laju rata-rata perubahan atribut mutu dan umur simpan beberapa jenis cabai pada berbagai kemasan dan suhu penyimpanan. Rancangan yang digunakan, yaitu rancangan acak kelompok pola faktorial dengan tiga faktor perlakuan dan tiga ulangan. Faktor pertama, yaitu tiga jenis cabai : (a1) cabai merah besar, (a2) cabai merah keriting, dan (a3) cabai rawit. Faktor kedua, dua suhu penyimpanan (b1) suhu kamar (20±3oC dan (b2) suhu dingin (10±1oC). Faktor ketiga, tiga jenis kemasan, yaitu (c1) baki styrofoam tanpa bungkus, (c2) baki styrofoam dibungkus plastik stretch film, dan (c3) baki styrofoam dibungkus plastik PE 0,03 mm berperforasi. Peubah yang diamati meliputi susut bobot, kadar air, kekerasan, kesegaran, vitamin C, dan umur simpan. Secara umum untuk semua jenis cabai dan jenis pengemas, penyimpanan di suhu dingin dapat menekan laju rata-rata perubahan atribut mutu sekaligus memperpanjang umur simpan sekitar 2,5–3 kali lipat dibandingkan suhu kamar. Pengemasan dengan styrofoam yang dibungkus plastik stretch film (c2) memberikan efek positif terhadap penekanan laju rata-rata perubahan atribut mutu dan umur simpan semua jenis cabai pada penyimpanan di suhu dingin, yaitu masing-masing 25 hari untuk cabai merah besar, 24 hari untuk cabai merah keriting, dan 18 hari untuk cabai rawit. Implikasi dari hasil penelitian ini adalah bahwa penyimpanan di suhu dingin dengan menggunakan pengemasan styrofoam dibungkus plastik stretch film dapat menekan laju rata-rata kemunduran mutu semua jenis cabai.</p><p><strong>Keywords</strong></p><p>Cabai; Mutu; Umur simpan; Suhu; Kemasan</p><p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p>The deterioration in the quality of fresh chili after harvesting is influenced by environmental factors. Low temperature packaging and storage are part of effective efforts to reduce quality deterioration. The objective of this research was to obtain the rate of quality attribute change and shelf life of several kinds of chili on various packaging and storage temperature. The experiment was conducted using randomized block in a factorial design with three factors and three replications. The first factor was three type of chili: (a1) red hot chili, (a2) curly chili, and (a3) cayenne pepper. The second factor was two types of storage temperature: (b1) room there temperature (20±3°C) and (b2) cold temperature (10±1oC). The third factor was three types of packaging: (c1) styrofoam trays without wrapping, (c2) styrofoam trays with stretch film , and (c3) styrofoam trays with perforated PE plastic 0.03 mm. The variables observed included weight loss, moisture content, hardness, vitamin C, freshness, and shelf life. Generally, for all kinds of chili and types of packaging, storage in cold temperatures can slow the rate of change of the quality attributes while extending shelf life of about 2.5–3 times higher than room temperature. Packing with styrofoam stretch filmed in plastic stretch film (c2) has a positive effect on suppression rate of quality attributes change and shelf life of all kinds of chili on storage at cold temperatures, respectively 25 days for red hot chili, 24 days for curly chili, and 18 days for cayenne pepper. This research implied that storage at low temperatures using styrofoam packaging stretch filmed in plastic stretch film can reduce the rate of decline in the quality of all types of chili.</p>