The Effect of Moringa oleifera Leaves Addition on the Characteristic of Tuna (Thunnus albacares) Fishball

Abstract

Indonesia has many potential marine source, such as tuna (Thunnus albacares) fish, and supported with rich biodiversity including Moringa oleifera leaves. Tuna fish is a very potential protein source which can be develop in many potential food product, such as fishball. This research was conducted to determine the effect of Moringa oleifera leaves addition on the characteristic of tuna fishball. The fishball were made from tuna fish, mixed with local flour, i.e. modified cassava flour (mocaf) flour, tapioca flour, and sago flour. Fresh moringa leaves was added to fishball with three different concentration (10%,20%,30%) and followed by the evaluation of chemical characteristic, including water content, ash content, protein content, fat content, carbohydrate content, antioxidant activity, and sensory characteristic, including hedonic test and descriptive test. The chemical analysis of the fishball showed that the addition of moringa leaves increased the water content to 4.84%, protein content to 7.25%, antioxidant activity to 3.03% and decreased the fat content to 0.18%. The most preferred fishball product from the sensory analysis was the fishball with 10% moringa leaves addition. The hedonic sensory test showed that the overall acceptance of the fishball with 10% moringa leaves addition was not significantly different with the fishball without moringa leaves addition. This study indicated that a healthy fishball could be made from tuna fish mixed with local flour and moringa leaves.