VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Cassava is very easy to find in various regions in Indonesia.  The part of this plant commonly used or consumed is the fruit or to be exact the tuber. Cassava peel is usually discarded and become waste,  but actually it can be utilized somehow.A group of students of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Yogyakarta developed a breakthrough by making fish feed coatings or pellets from cassava peel waste. This innovation can increase the effectiveness of fish feed cultivation. One member of the team, Muhammad Burhanudding Fauzi, said this fish feed (pellets) coating provides benefits because it is not easily crumble. The peel serves as a holder so as not to easily absorb water. According to Fauzi, the edible coating nature on the cassava peel starch makes the fish feed not easy to absorb water and can last longer. In addition, it will not easily crumble in the water so it can reduce contamination of residual feed.The innovation named by the students Eating Paku which is an Indonesian abbreviation of Edible Coating of Cassava Peel Starch came from UGM Student Creativity Program 2018. Fauzi developed it with his colleagues in Agricultural Engineering and Biosystem Faculty of Agricultural Technology, namely Ahadian Ansor and Mochammad Idris Ramadana, with the guidance of Sri Rahayoe. Fauzi added, the test results showed this pellets coating can survive in water for 5 to 7 hours.The use of cassava peel starch as the basis for making the coating is chosen because it is relatively cheap compared to other materials such as protein and lipids. In addition, the raw material of cassava peel is available quite abundantly in the community. In fact, cassava peel usually only becomes a waste that has not been optimally utilized. The preparation of fish feed coating is done by processing cassava peel to become starch first. Then the starch is formulated and mixed with glycerol, carboxymethyl cellulose and water. Finally, the resulting solution is sprayed onto the pellet, so the fish feed is more durable in water.According to Ahadian, the idea of ​​developing this fish feed coating started from fish farmers in Sleman who often complained about the condition of their self-made fish feed which quality is not as good as fish feed on the market but the price is relatively more expensive.