The effect of powdered spices formula on antioxidant activity and sensory quality of solid brem

Solid brem is one of Indonesian traditional food. The low level of antioxidant contentmight be increased by adding powdered spice formula which is rich in phenoliccompounds. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of powdered spicesformula on antioxidant activity and sensory quality of solid brem. The formulation ofpowdered spices was ginger, turmeric, cloves, nutmeg, pepper, and cinnamon in a ratio of3: 1: 1: 1: 1: 0.5. Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with six treatments ofadding powdered spices formula (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5%) and three replications were used asthe method. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) at a 5%significance level using Co-Stat software and tested further by Orthogonal PolynomialMethod (OPM) or using Honestly Significant Difference (HSD). The result showed thatadding powdered spices formula on solid brem had a significant different effect onantioxidant activity, water activity, pH value, physical quality (texture and color), andsensory quality (hedonic) on color, taste, texture, and melting in the mouth. The additionof 4% of the spices formula is recommended to produce the best quality of solid bremwith the following characteristic: 80.51% of antioxidant activity, 15.71 mg GAE/g ofmaterial total phenol, 40.90% Brix of total dissolved solids, 0.55 water activity (Aw), 3.44pH value, 9.08 N texture value (physical), and 84.68 oHue color value (physical). Theproduct had light yellow; slightly spicy, solid and rather smooth texture, and melting inthe mouth. The high content of antioxidant activity in the product proved the potential ofusing powdered spices in improving the antioxidant activity of solid brem.