Nazatul Nabila, Nur Shuhada Nabilla, Nurhidayah, Nurul Afifa, Nur Atiqah and Nor Atikah Husna
Keywords: noodles, preservatives, lemon, nutritional, ascorbic acid
Abstract: Noodles have been staple foods since many decades all over the world. This is because it is very easy to cook, rich with nutritional value and tasty. In the industries, lots of chemical preservatives such as ascorbic acid, sodium benzoate, sorbic acid and benzoic acid are used to prolong the shelf life of the noodles. However, long term consumptions of these chemical preservatives would lead damage to the human health. To overcome this situation, a healthy and convenience ways is urgently needed. Thus, the aim of this innovation is to propose a natural food preservative that able to incorporate in noodle product, mainly for improving nutritional quality without changed its original taste. In this research, lemon peel was used to substitute ascorbic acid that commonly used in the noodles. Drying and grinding method had been used to obtain the smooth texture of lemon peel. Carbohydrate and protein test had been conducted by using iodine solution, Fehling’s solution and Biuret reagent to determine the presence of starch, glucose and protein in the Cimon noodles. Results showed a color change from blue to orange for Fehling’s test and white to slightly blue black for iodine test, whereas the color change from white to slightly purple for the Biuret method. This showed Cimon noodles contained glucose, starch and protein. The addition of lemon peels does not alter the presence of glucose, starch and protein in the noodle. Boric acid test was performed to indicate the presence of boric acid in the noodles by using the turmeric solution. As a result, based on this preliminary research, lemon peel has a potential to replace the ascorbic acid which is used as an antioxidant to prevent spoilage and in the meantime least number of chemical additives will be consumed in everyday life.