The Use of Albumin in Sardine Fish - Based Pempek to Increase Protein Levels and Substitute Snakehead Fish as a Basic Ingredient for High Protein Pempek

Mukhtarudin Muchsiri

Abstract: The reduced population of snakehead fish, the essential ingredient of pempek (one of Indonesia's typical foods), has caused a lot of production to replace it with other fish bases and add albumin to the material used as a substitute base. So snakehead fish farming may continue to boost the fish population, and pempek production can remain economically viable. The methodology used is an experiment that uses an increase in albumin concentration in making pempek based on sardines. The use of albumin of 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% to 25% as an additional protein material was to be given to the sample. Thirty moderately trained panellists were selected from a limited circle who had been tested for sensitivity first. Duncan tests were performed on a model that took an intermediate value against a homogeneous sample. The sample test found that adding albumin can increase sardines' protein content andthe taste, chewiness, aroma, and colourof the pempek itself. It was found that adding albumin by 10% was the best choice chosen by the panellists while obtaining high quality for the sardines - based fish. By researching the addition of albumin to other fish that will be the primary raw material for pempek, it is hoped that the snakehead fish population can increase to meet the high consumer demand for these fish. In addition, using snakehead fish albumin can also increase the protein value of sardines. The raw material for pempekcan replace snakehead fish with almost the same protein content at a more affordable price.

Keywords: Albumin, pempek, food