Pandan Laut is a plant commodity often found in coastal areas. This plant produces a fruit that is rarely known by many people, namely hala fruit (Pandanus tectoricus).
Hala fruit is commonly found around the coastal areas of Planjan Village, Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta. Besides offering natural beauty, the fruit from the Pandan Laut tree has incredible benefits. One of them is a herbal drink for menstrual pain relief.
However, few people around Planjan Village know this fruit’s potential. A group of UGM students called Penahala decided to use this fruit as an herbal drink for menstrual pain relief.
The cross-faculty group of students consists of Rohma Auliya (Chemistry 2022), Yunia Tri Utami (Agricultural Engineering 2022), Aisha Najma Nurul’ Aisy (Chemistry 2022), Radithya Kusumawardana (Social Development and Welfare 2023), and Devi Ramdani (Agricultural Engineering 2022), under the guidance of Ani Setyopratiwi.
They received funding from the Ministry of Education under the Student Creativity Program in Community Service (PKM-PM). Their program facilitates the community, especially the youth group, to develop the potential of hala fruit by producing herbal drinks for menstrual pain relief from hala fruit extract.
Penahala’s stages include introducing the program, creating tutorial videos, preparing partner manuals, and conducting training. The training includes making herbal drinks for menstrual pain relief, packaging, and marketing.
Radithya Kusumawardana stated that hala fruit is often left to rot because the community is unaware of its many beneficial compounds. One of these compounds is flavonoids, which act as antioxidants, antibacterials, and analgesics for pain relief.
Seeing the potential of hala fruit, Penahala empowered the community by collaborating with the Planjan youth to process hala fruit into drinks.
“With the benefit of relieving menstrual pain, what we are doing is an initial step to improve the welfare of the local community,” said Kusumawardana at the UGM campus Wednesday (Jul. 17).
He explained that the production process starts with sorting and peeling ripe hala fruits. Then, the hala fruit is washed with clean water and dried in the sun.
Once the hala fruit is dry and has low water content, it is brewed with other herbs in hot water. The natural herbal extract drink from hala fruit is then ready to be served.
“By utilizing local knowledge and research from various sources, Penahala hopes not only to empower the Planjan community through this value-added product but also to raise awareness of the potential of local natural resources around them,” said Kusumawardana.
For the sustainability of this program, Kusumawardana mentioned that they assist in registering this herbal product with the permit certification. Additionally, the team evaluates the program and participates in bazaars to introduce the product to the broader community.
“The team will continuously monitor the sustainability of the program. This step is expected to be a real example of how higher education and local communities can collaborate. You can check out the Instagram account @pkmpmugm_penahala for a complete view,” he explained.
Author: Agung Nugroho