Nutritional Content and Quality Analysis of Palm Sugar in Pledokan Village, Sumowono

Palm sugar is a natural sweetener containing nutrients and antioxidants. The aim of this research is to measure nutrient content (reducing sugar, sucrose, water and ash content), number of bacteria, and antioxidant level of palm sugar. The sample in this study was palm sugar randomly taken from ten different production sites. Nutrient content determination used luff schoorl method and antioxidant measurement used DPPH method. Based on the analysis of reducing sugar content, all samples met SNI 01-3743-1995 criteria, with an average of 7.16% (5.14% up to 8.73%). The average of sucrose was 76.6% (62.50% up to 88.58%). There was 40% of the palm sugar samples having sucrose content that meets the criteria. The average of water content was 10.34% (7.79% up to 11.86%). The water content of palm sugar suitable with the criteria was 30%. While the total ash content of palm sugar suitable with the criteria was 50%. The ash content average was 3.1% (1.1% up to 6.3%). The number of lactic acid bacteria found was still within normal limits. The average number of bacteria was 6.4 x 10⁴ (CFU/ml), (0 x10⁴ (CFU/ml) up to 27 x 10⁴ (CFU/ml). The average antioxidant content was 84.60%, with the lowest strength of 89.71% and the highest strength of 74.73%. In conclusion, The nutritional content of the sample has not met the SNI 01-3743-1995 criteria as a whole. The palm sugar produced in Pledokan Village, Sumowono are still safe to eat (based on the number of bacteria). The antioxidant activity of palm sugar in Sumowono Village is strong (50%-100%).