The analytical study on "Kecap"-an indonesian soy sauce.

Abstract

Analytical investigation on the chemical characterization of "kecap" were conducted. Kecap is one of the major seasoning or dondiment in Indonesia which is made by fermentation techniques from soybean (Glycine rnax MERR). The commercial products could be classified into the sweet, common, salty and sometimes viscous types. Ten kecap samples were collected from different areas in Indonesia. The main solid components of kecap are carbohydrate and salt. The highest carbohydrate content was 65.5% in sweet type kecap, originated mostly from palm sugar and the lowest one was 3.8% in the salty type kecap. The main components of sugar was sucrose and fructose. The total nitrogen, form01 nitrogen and free amino acid contents were much lower than those of the Japanese soy sauce, except one salty type kecap. This is due to the excessive dilution during the moromi extraction and the addition of a large quantity of palm sugar. The ash content of sweet, common and viscous types of kecap were lower than the Japanese soy sauce. Lactic acid is the most dominant organic acid in kecap and some were also rich in succinic, pyroglutamic and butyric acid.