Reduction of beta-carotene with thermal activated bentonite in Illipe butter from Nanga Yen, Kalimantan Barat

Indonesia is one of the largest tropical countries in the world, with almost 126 million hectares of forest. One of the indigenous trees in that forest is Tengkawang tree. The fatty acid content of Tengkawang (Shorea stenoptera) seed is quite high (70% wt) which renders its high economic value. The fat can be consumed because it has a similar nature to cocoa butter. The method used by the local community to obtain the fat of Tengkawang or Illipe butter is still traditional so that the quality of the product does not meet the Indonesian National Standard (SNI). Previous research results had not fulfilled some of the SNI parameters, i.e. free fatty acids and Illipe Butter colours. This study evaluates the reduction of beta carotene in Illipe Butter in the bleaching process to obtain the appropriate colour of SNI and reduce the beta-carotene content in Illipe butter by applying thermally activated bentonite in the bleaching process. This study purified Illipe butter with three steps, namely activation of bentonite, pre-treatment of Illipe butter and bleaching process. The activation is carried out using muffle furnace at 250oC in 90 minutes. This pre-treatment of Illipe butter consists of degumming and neutralization. The bleaching process is carried out with thermally activated bentonite with variables of bentonite-Illipe butter ratio (10% - 30%). The thermal-activated bentonite in the bleaching process of Illipe butter reduced beta carotene levels from 125.42 μg / mg to 17.79 μg / mg and changed the colour of butter into yellowish-white by the addition of 30% ratio bentonite. The addition of activated bentonite in Illipe Butter bleaching process proven effective in reducing beta carotene content.