The morphological variations (growth habit, leaf shape, leaf color, height, stem diameter, number of branches and internodes, leaf area, blade ratio, leaf thickness, number of leaves, and total leaf area) and protein content of 53 Indonesian amaranths (Amaranthus spp.), consisting of weedy-, vegetable-, and ornamental-types, were assessed. The extent of variation in the Indonesian Amaranthus accessions were compared with the worldwide collection (26 accessions from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and 5 ornamentals from Nepal) in the experimental field of the University of Tsukuba, Japan. The variation in average values of most morphological traits and protein content in the Indonesian accessions were similar to those of the worldwide germplasm, but the important parameters that influence vegetable yield (e.g., number of leaves and stem diameter) were superior in the Indonesian accessions. Protein content showed a positive correlation with the number of leaves, whereas a negative correlation was observed with leaf thickness. The Indonesian accession of A. viridis and A. dubius showed a great potential to be further selected as parental lines for high protein content and number of leaves. The relatively high protein content of the leaves of Celosia may also potentially serve as an alternative protein source in the tropics.

Malnutrition has affected almost 31% of pre-school children. This paper provides the information of nutritional values (leaf protein, 15 amino acids, biomass and leaf dry matter) of grain, vegetable and weedy types of amaranths (n = 76 accessions); particularly those novel materials originated from the highland areas of Sumatra-Takengon. The highest values of leaf protein and total amino acids were found in many weedy species (A. viridis, A. blitum L. and A. dubius). The ranges of leaf protein and total amino acids in most of weedy types were 12–29 g 100 g−1 DM and 84–93 g 100 g−1 DW protein, respectively. The leaves of amaranths were found to be a good source for lysine which is the limiting essential amino acids in most of cereal plants. Their values were in the range of 6 g 100 g−1 DW protein which are close to that of good protein quality according to FAO/WHO’s standard. The leaves of underutilized weedy species of A. dubius, A. blitum, A. viridis and the dual purpose types of A. caudatus L., A. cruentus L. deserve to be further exploited as a low cost solution for solving malnutrition problems, especially in Indonesia

Coffee cherry pulp contains caffeine, polyphenols and tannins which can cause environmental problems if discarded, but can be a potential source of antioxidants, phenolic compounds, and caffeine for functional drinks, like cascara. The chemical properties of cascara beverage from six different treatments of coffee cherry pulp were investigated. The pulp treatments were, P1 = pulp of coffee cherries which were kept in a sack for 12 hours before pulping (delayed pulping), P2 = pulp soaked in water for 12 hour, P3 = pulp left in a basket at room temperature for 12 hours, P4 = pulp/husk of dry process coffee, P5 = pulp of wet process coffee, P6 = pulp/husk of wine process coffee (prolonged dried coffee). The results show that the treatments did not affect the cascara beverage antioxidant activity which was between 53-78% DPPH inhibition. However, all treatments lowered tannin contents to about 35 mg/L, except for the P3 and P6 treatments. The cascara beverage caffeine content of P1, P2, and P3 treatments was low, around 0.20%, and about twice of that in the P4-P6 treatments. Cascara beverage of P4 contained the highest total acids and the lowest pH which was 4.18, whereas cascara tea/beverage of the wet process (P5 treatment) had high caffeine and low tannin contents with moderate pH and total acid content.

One of the current significant environmental challenges that have to be dealt with the majority of farmer in Indonesia, especially those on Gayo highlands - is the absence of an optimal utilization of coffee by-products or waste, which is deliberately produced in a great amount during the coffee processing. The Gayo highlands are located in the middle regions of Aceh province and widely known as the most extensive arabica coffee plantation all over Indonesia, with a total area 101,473 hectares. The aim of this research was to optimally utilize the by-products or the exfoliated cherry-pulp into the so called kombucha cascara bearing great economical potential. However, further information in terms of its optimum processing condition (the length of fermentation duration, concentration of kombucha starter) from the cherry pulp into kombucha cascara has been much unexplored. In order to reveal that, we were trying to apply the effects of wo determinants, namely: i) fermentation duration (8,12 days); ii) starter concentration applied (3%, 5%, and 7%) on kombucha cascara’s chemical parameters [pH, total phenolic amount, antioxidant activity] and sensory in the form of hedonic test. Such test enabled us in describing consumers’ preference based on its ‘pronounced’ the taste. Results showed that pH was ranged from 2.63 until 3.10, meanwhile, a relatively high antioxidant activity ranging from 25.78 and 51.69% noted with a total phenolic compound between 64.00 - 105.20 mg GAE (Galic Acid Equivalent)/ml were measured. This can be inferred that quality was shown to be deliberately affected both by the length of fermentation and starter’s concentration, albeit the first one was to be more affecting. The longer the fermentation period, the lower the acidity value, and interestingly, significant decreases by total phenolic compound and antioxidant activity were also measured. It is also concluded that 12-days fermentation process added with 5% started received the highest score for sensory test.

Wine coffee is the result of processing coffee using a modified fermentation method. Currently, wine coffee is one of the most popular coffee products for coffee connoisseurs because of its strong and distinctive taste due to the fermentation process it goes through. Increased processing of wine coffee certainly increases the amount of waste produced. The aim of this research was to study the effect of fermentation time of wine coffee toward cascara tea quality. This study used a completely randomized design which consisted of 5 treatments and 3 replications. The treatment was fermentation times that consisted of F0 = control (no fermentation), F1 = 25 days of fermentation, F2 = 35 days of fermentation, F3 = 45 days of fermentation. The parameters analyzed were pH, total phenol and antioxidant activity. The results showed that the fermentation time of wine coffee affected the pH value of the cascara produced. Total phenol and antioxidant activity of cascara tea were not affected by fermentation time. It is necessary to analyze the level of consumer preference on the sensory quality of the resulting cascara tea.