Again, achievement was made by UGM students in the international forum. Some students of Faculty of Agricultural Technology won second place in Student Competition held by International Food Technology (IFT) on 13 June in New Orleans. Meanwhile, the first winner was the team from Brawijaya University and the third was the team from Chem Tech, India.
As many as 34 teams from around the world competed in the event. In this competition, the participants are challenged to develop a product that can overcome anemia or lack of blood.
Soya Team consisting of five students majoring in Food Technology and Agricultural Products, namely Afni Fitriana, Aprilita Kusumawardhani, Avelia Genetika Indriani, Gaung Ranggatama and Haritsah Setya N.A, in the competition proposed a product that they labeled as "SAE, Soy-RicePorridge". SAE is a product of food (porridge) developed for toddlers aged 1-3 years. "According to the jury, we deserve to be the second winner for using local product, which is rice," Aprilita Kusumawardhani, Chairman of Soya team, said on Thursday (23/6) to reporters at UGM Stana Parahita.
Aprilita said that SAE is different from most baby foods sold in the market. The product has higher iron content than other products. "SAE is processed from poorboiled rice that has iron content 40% higher than ordinary rice," she explained.
Poorboiled rice is ordinary rice that has previously experienced a number of treatments. First, unhulled rice is soaked for 24 hours then steamed for about 30 minute. It is then dried and milled once, producing poorboiled. "This poorboiled has also higher nutritional content than white rice which has been repeatedly grounded," Aprilita said.
In making poorboiled, Aprilita and her friends use the IR 64 rice because it has higher iron content than other varieties. They add soy, steamed rice bran, soybean oil, palm oil, and sugar to the poorboiled rice to create SAE. All the ingredients are put together and cooked for 20 minutes until SAE solid is obtained. Furthermore, the solid is crushed and sieved to obtain SAE flour.
Haritsah added that the product they developed can meet half of Nutritional Adequacy Rate of iron needed by the toddlers as much as 8 mg/ day. In a single serving, 74 grams can meet 50% demand for iron, 55% protein, and 30% of calories. The SAE is packed in 120 grams of package. "Because containing high iron content, the product is very good to be consumed by toddlers, especially those who experience anemia," she explained.