NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT OF TEMPE
Group 10 - Tempe Related Article
Have you heard about tempeh? Tempeh is one of the most popular traditional food products from Indonesia, made from soybeans. It is made through fermentation using Rhizopus sp. or commonly known as Laru and is usually served as a side dish or made into chips. Tempeh is growing in popularity as a superfood with high contents of protein and the presence of vitamin B12 despite being completely plant based, making it suitable for vegan diets. With the development of science and technology, many innovative products from tempeh are circulating. Some of the products include analogue meat, noodles, pasta cookies and SoyGurt.
Analog Meat
One of the potential developments of tempeh is in the form of a meat analog. It’s a popular choice to reduce meat consumption and increase plant based diet due to its firmness and ability to absorb flavors. It’s also beneficially healthy for the human gut as it is a source of probiotics. The main principles of making meat analog from tempeh are marinating and frying. During marination, the sliced tempeh is put in a shallow dish or a resealable plastic bag and poured by store-bought marinades or self made marinade in the form of a mixture of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and other spices. Then, the marinated tempeh is fried with oil in a single layer until it is brown and slightly crispy. Grilling or baking the tempeh in the oven afterward can also be optionally done (Stanin et al. 2020). At the current moment, there are rarely any brands that produce analog meat from tempeh. However, there are some brands that use soy to make analog meat such as Beanfeast, Goshen Alimentos, etc.
Pasta and Noodles
In addition to being made into an analogue meat, tempeh can also be made into tempeh flour. Temple flour is very popular among Indonesians. Processing tempeh flour extends tempeh's shelf life and increases its protein nutrients (Syarifah 2019). To make tempeh flour, tempeh that has been fermented for 60 hours is sliced and dried in an infrared dryer at 40-45°C for 4-5 hours. The dried tempeh is then crushed using a disc grinder and sifted. Tempeh flour can be incorporated as a supplementary source of protein in gluten free pasta and noodles from rice flour, mocav flour, cassava flour, or corn flour which tends to produce pasta with a low protein content. The examples of products from tempe flour are noodles, pasta, and cookies. The pasta and noodles are made in a typical way with flour, eggs, salt and oil, however, up to 15% of the total mass of flour is substituted with tempeh flour and its significantly increases the protein content of the pasta or noodles by 6.30% - 9.07% (Maryam 2022; Yulianti et al. 2019). Additionally, the addition of it also causes a higher viscosity and pasting and a lower whiteness of the noodles.
Cookies
The other innovation of tempe flour is making cookies with 20% of tempe flour and  baking it at 130°C for 40 minutes. The result of the cookies sensation has a slight tempeh flavor, pleasant aroma, sweet, slightly bitter and crunchy taste with a lasting aftertaste. Most panelists slightly liked the overall taste. Additionally, these cookies contain 9.07 mg of iron and 12.3 grams of protein per 100 grams. Furthermore, eating 200 grams of cookies can fulfill a man's daily iron needs (18 mg according to Kemenkes).
Soygurt
Our innovation is SoyGurt, short for Soy Yogurt which is made from tempeh extract. SoyGurt acts as a yogurt alternative for lactose intolerants and people with milk allergies that can be manufactured at an affordable price (Picauly et al. 2018). It has higher contents of fiber and unsaturated fatty acids with a higher bioavailability of vitamins, minerals, and isoflavones compared to cow's milk yogurt. The fermentation process also increases the shelf life of the tempeh as it creates an acidic environment through the formation of lactic acid. To make it, first the tempeh is extracted by blending tempeh and hot water with a ratio of 1:2 for 10 minutes. The mixture is heated, filtered, pasteurized for 80°C for 10 minutes, and left to cool. Yogurt starter containing Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulcaricus is added to the tempe extract with a quantity of 0,5%. The SoyGurt is left to incubate for 4-6 hours at 43-45°C and chilled for 12 hours. After incubation, fruits, cereals, or honey can be added as a flavor enhancement.
Conclusion
Tempe-based products have gained popularity as a nutritious and protein-rich alternative to meat and dairy-based products, especially among vegetarians and vegans. Various tempeh-based products have been developed by food manufacturers to meet different dietary preferences and needs. several innovative ideas about making new tempeh products, namely, analog meat, noodles or pasta, cookies,and SoyGurt.
References
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Maryam S. 2022. Penambahan tepung tempe dan ekstrak wortel proses pembuatan mie berkualitas. JST (Jurnal Sains dan Teknologi). 11(2):238–248.doi:10.23887/jstundiksha.v11i2.50759.
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Stanin E, Swamilaksita P, Mulyani E. 2020. Tempeh and Vital Wheat Gluten based Analog Meat Development as Vegetarian Alternative Food. (9):247–256. doi:10.5220/0009591902470256.
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Yulianti LE, Sholichah E, Indrianti N. 2019. Addition of tempeh flour as a protein source in mixed flour (mocaf, rice, and corn) for pasta product. IOP Conf Ser Earth Environ Sci. 251:012037.doi:10.1088/1755-1315/251/1/012037.
