Utilization Of Cilembu Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) As Prebiotic Functional Beverage

Cilembu sweet potato is a native cultivar of sweet potatoes in Indonesia. After baking, Cilembu sweet potato was known to produce a sugar liquid similar to glucose syrup which can functioned as a prebiotic content, useful in supporting gut’s healthy microflora. In this research Cilembu were baked at three different baking temperatures (150ºC, 175ºC, 200ºC) with three different baking time (60 minutes, 90 minutes, 120 minutes) to induce the formation of the sugar syrup and were formulated as a novel prebiotic functional beverage. All formulation were analyzed for its prebiotic activity score and reducing sugar content. Baking induced change in the composition of Cilembu sweet potatoes which increased the inulin content (from 5.5% to 8.7%) and total reducing sugar from (1.7 to 3,1%) (w/w) of the baked Cilembu sweet potatoes.  The prebiotic activity score of the baked sweet potatoes were ranging from (0.587 to 0.866) with prebiotic index of (0.89 to 0.91). The Cilembu sweet potato functional beverage made with 35 g sweet potato and 35:65 milk to water ratio resulted in a functional beverage with nutritional composition of 1.35% protein, 0.09% fat, 0.59% ash, and 16.76% carbohydrate with moderate likeness and contained a prebiotic activity score of 1.334 ±0.037 and prebiotic index of 0.945.