Development of Non-Soybean Tempeh from Cowpea Bean and Koro Bean

Abstract

Tempeh is a fermented food product that is very widely consumed in Indonesia because of it has a low price but high in nutritional value and health benefits. Tempeh made from non-soybean ingredients, can be used as an alternative of local abundant beans in Indonesia and also to reduce the dependence on imported soybeans. So the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of using non-soybeans ingredients, cowpea beans; koro beans; and mix of both beans on the manufacture of tempeh and to evaluate the microbiological characteristic and chemical composition of tempeh products. Non-soybean tempeh was made with the proportion of cowpea bean and koro beans 0:100; 50;50; 100;0 (g/g) then inoculated and incubated at 30 ±2 °C for 36 hours. The microbiological characteristic of non-soybean tempeh was evaluated from the viability of the mold in tempeh. The highest viability comes from koro bean tempeh, which was 7.3 log cfu/gram. The chemical composition of non-soybean tempeh was evaluated from water content, crude protein, fat, carbohydrates, ash, crude fiber and nitrogen content. The highest crude protein content was obtained from koro bean tempeh sample, which was 41.5%. The production of non-soybean tempeh is expected to be an alternative to fermented food products made from local ingredients at affordable prices but with good nutritional quality. So it is hoped that non-soybean tempeh can also be produced from other beans that have not widely used but have a huge nutritional value.