Prof. Bambang Permadi Soemantri Brojonegoro, President Commissioner of PT Nusantara Green Energy (NGE), expressed his desire to strengthen the role of Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA) of Universitas Indonesia (UI) in research field that will benefit the society. “Of course, today’s event is very relevant to the field of FMIPA UI, so it becomes a driving force of good basic research,” he said at the signing of the research cooperation agreement entitled “Value Added Improvement of Steamless Palm Oil (SPO) as a Highly Nutritious Oil Contains Natural Phytonutrients for Body Health and Stunting Prevention and Malnutrition” at the Multidisiplin Building, FMIPA UI Depok, Tuesday (27/09/2022).
This basic research will later become an innovation that can be used, both from a commercial perspective by companies and direct benefits to the community, while still carrying a mandate that is able to help improve the welfare of the community, said Bambang.
According to him, Indonesia’s ability to develop basic research if continued properly accompanied by a clear plan and roadmap can help answer the needs of the community. “One of which is through the potential management of palm oil resources that can help the economy of Indonesian people. It is hoped that through efforts to manage steamless palm oil, it can help reduce stunting in Indonesia as a form of report substitution that is beneficial for the lives of the community and existing farmers,” said Bambang.
Since 2006, Indonesia has been the world’s number one palm oil producer. In 2020, the area of palm oil plantations reached 16.38 million ha. Naturally, crude palm oil from Indonesia contains phytonutrients including carotenoids (as provitamin A); tocopherols and tocotrienols (Vitamin E); phytosterols (cholesterol-lowering); and others. Unfortunately, with the current technology, these phytonutrients are lost or damaged, starting from the processing of palm fruits into CPO (Crude Palm Oil) and then further lost in the process of refining, bleaching, and deodorizing palm oil.
Stunting is one of the health issues that has received special attention from the government. In Indonesia, stunting is one of the health problems that is still found everywhere and needs to be addressed seriously. One of the causes of stunting is Vitamin A deficiency. The acceleration of stunting reduction is regulated in Presidential Regulation number 72 of 2021.
UI through the Special Work Unit of the Institute of Applied Science (UKK LST) FMIPA and PT NGE established a collaboration that is expected to contribute to the advancement of the development of the health and pharmaceutical industry. In order to maintain the natural nutritional content of palm oil, PT NGE developed SPOT (Steamless Palm Oil Technology) and IRU (Impurities Removable Unit) technologies that process palm fruit into high-nutrient edible oil.
SPOT and IRU technology (the development of a new combination of palm fruit processing technology without the use of steam) is a superior process in many respects compared to the conventional Palm Oil Mill (PKS) process method. The palm oil produced from SPOT and IRU technology is called SPO with better quality than CPO. In addition to producing SPO with natural phytonutrients retained in the palm oil, SPOT and IRU technologies are also designed to have the ability to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions during the processing of palm fruits into SPO.
In order to increase the added value of SPO produced from SPOT and IRU technology, PT NGE collaborated with UKK LST FMIPA UI to develop the applications of SPO in various health and pharmaceutical fields that are far more useful than the achievements of CPO and RBD PO products so far. In addition, field research will be carried out in five stages: identifying, characterizing and analyzing the content of SPO (Steamless Palm Oil) oil qualitatively and quantitatively; increasing the added value of SPO oil; application of the liquid fraction of SPO or SPOOL (Edora = Edible Oil Right Away) and its heavy fraction SPOStearin (Megavite = Media for Gaining Vital Energy) for other food ingredient applications including for cosmetic ingredients; conducting efficacy tests of products developed to improve health and cosmetics, including 3-MCPDE and GE tests.
The SPOT and IRU technologies are designed with a production capacity of 10 tons/hour of FFB (Fresh Fruit Bunches), so they can be easily placed close to the oil palm plantations of small-holders. In order to make the management of these oil palm plantations more effective and efficient, they are directed to be in a form of a corporation. Thus, the Oil Palm Farmer Corporation will have a higher bargaining power than what has been prevailing so far, and with this new technology, the income of farmers is no longer only dependent on a single product, which is FFB.
The signing ceremony of the UI-PT NGE cooperation agreement was carried out by the Head of UKK LST FMIPA UI Prof. Dr. Jatna Supriatna, and the President Director of PT NGE Ir. Sahat M. Sinaga. The event was also attended by the President Commissioner of PT NGE Prof. Bambang Permadi Soemantri Brodjonegoro; the Vice Rector for Academic and Student Affairs Prof. Dr. rer. grout. Abdul Haris; the Dean of FMIPA UI Dede Djuhana, Ph.D.; the Deputy Dean for Education, Research and Student Affairs of FMIPA Dr. Budiawan; the Deputy Dean for Resources, Ventures and General Administration of FMIPA Dr. Tito Latif Indra; the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy (FF) Prof. Arry Yanuar; and the Dean of FF for the period 2017-2021 Dr. Mahdi Jufri.
