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| Faradiba Exam with External Examiner (Far left) and Internal Examiner |
At the graduation ceremony for the fourth period (18 Jan), the best graduate was achieved by Faradiba Hijriani Harahap, STP from the Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Science (FAAS). Fara, as her nick name, earned a GPA of 3.98 with the title of the thesis "The Effect of the Ratio of Beetroot Juice with Pineapple Core Juice and Carrageenan Concentration from Seaweed (Eucheuma cottonii) on the Quality of Jelly Candy". This achievement as the best graduate deserves to be credited to Fara, because his research was examined by an external examiner. This exam with an external examiner is the second time that the Food Technology study program has held.
Faradiba's thesis exam was held online, by attending external examiners namely Teresa G. Valencak, Ph.D who is a lecturer from Zhejiang University, China, while Rista Anggriani, STP.MP.MSc as an internal examiner. Zhejiang University as ranked 45th in the QS World Ranking is a partner of FAAS. The activity involving external examiners was carried out as a breakthrough in order to realize the mission as a reputable faculty of ASEAN in 2030. This activity is also a work program of UMM for the internationalization of study programs, institutions, and study centers.
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| Jelly Candy, Result of Faradiba's Research |
Student under the guidance of Prof.Dr.Ir. Noor Harini, MS and Dr.Ir.Warkoyo, MP.IPM, applied carrageenan from Eucheuma cottonii seaweed as a gelling agent in beetroot jelly candy combined with pineapple. "The jelly candy from this study has a high antioxidant activity of 70%. So, this product can be recommended as a functional food", said Faradiba. "This jelly candy also can be said to be a halal candy because it uses a gelling agent from vegetables (seaweed)," added Noor. The first supervisor from Faradiba is indeed involved in research to find alternative gelling agents other than gelatin. This is because the critical point of halal food is when using ingredients from animal sources such as gelatin. Meanwhile, Teresa expressed interest in the results of Fara's research. “In China, I have never found out a seaweed-based jelly candy,” said Teresa. "This product is very innovative, especially using local ingredients", she added. (RAN/hum)
