PENGARUH JENIS AIR RENDAMAN TERHADAP PENURUNAN KADAR FORMALIN PADA IKAN TONGKOL (Euthynnus affinis)

Abstract

Fish is an example of perishable food. To prevent fish from deteriorating quickly, proper handling
is required during storage to extend the shelf life, among other things, one of which is by the addition of
preservatives. the extension of food shelf lives, people often misused formaldehyde as a food
preservative. Formaldehyde itself is banned for use as food ingredients as it may be harmful to human
health, such as irritation of the stomach, its carcinogenic properties (causing cancer), and may bring
about death.
This was an experimental study using one group pretest-posttest design to investigate the effect
of soaking water on the reduction of formaldehyde levels in cobs. There were 48 samples in 6
replications of each treatment group. The dependent variable in this study was the formaldehyde levels
in cobs and the independent variables was the type of soaking water (tap water, hot water at
temperature of 50 DCand 5% vinegar), soaking were exercised for 30 minutes. The data were analyzed
using paired t test and Anova test.
The result showed that all three types of soaking water were able to reduce levels of formaldehyde
in cobs, where tap water reduced formaldehyde level by 53.7% at p < a (0.05), hot water at
temperature of 50 DCreduced formaldehyde level by 62.6% at p < a (0.05), and vinegar 5% reduced
formaldehyde level by 42.4% at p < a (0.05). The Anova test between treatment groups indicated that
soaking water resulted in a value of p > a (0.05)
It can be concluded that types of soaking water have no effect on the reduction of formaldehyde
level in cobs. However, there were significant differences in reduction of formaldehyde level before and
after the soaking treatment. The stydy suggested that further research needs to be conducted on other
fish samples using different concentration of soaking water and soaking time.