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One of the highlights of the event was a guest lecture by Prof. Eiichiro Fukusaki and Assoc. Prof. Sastia Prama Putri from Osaka University.

Prof. Fukusaki presented on “Application of Metabolomics in Fermentation Research”. He explained that metabolomics can serve as a high-resolution phenotypic analysis technology. He also elaborated that metabolomics can be utilized to analyze the secondary functions of food. “This enables the creation of predictive taste models that can be used as an alternative to sensory evaluation, such as for agricultural products, natural medicines, and fermented foods,” he stated.

Prof. Fukusaki also shared his research on sour beer. Sour beer is a Belgian beer that was recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2016. Sour beer is known for its tart taste, high organic acid concentration, low pH, and use of diverse microorganisms such as bacteria and yeast which contribute to its rich flavor profile. “The lengthy production process allows various metabolites to form, enhancing the flavor and aroma of sour beer, which makes it important to investigate its flavor components,” he noted.

According to him, the objective of this research was to comprehensively investigate the sensory attribute characteristics of traditional sour beer and its component profile. Three strategies were used: 1) Component profiling; 2) Sensory evaluation; and 3) Multivariate analysis.

The research findings revealed 261 components in sour beer consisting of 167 volatile and 94 non-volatile components. Candidate flavor components characteristic of each sour beer could be investigated using OPLS-R. Meanwhile, a comprehensive analysis of components in sour beer was conducted through GC/MS and LC/MS.

“The candidate flavor components obtained from this research can be used as an index to achieve targeted sour beer flavors, ensure stable flavor reproduction, and apply in quality evaluations,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Assoc. Prof. Sastia presented “Efficient identification of underexplored health-promoting metabolites in Indonesian food”. She emphasized the importance of functional foods in daily life. However, a new perspective is needed to further develop existing foods. “A new perspective to discover functional components from existing foods is necessary to develop new functional foods,” she said.

Currently, many perceive healthy food as originating solely from the West, while local foods are often seen as unhealthy. “This mindset arises due to them being underexplored, a lack of deep knowledge and research into our local foods,” she explained.

Therefore, she conducted research studying the metabolomics of Indonesian fermented products, one of which is tempeh. This research aimed to comprehensively investigate the metabolome of tempeh soybeans and the profile of its bioactive metabolites.

Three methods were used, namely widely-targeted GC-MS, untargeted LC-MS, and LC-PDA-MS analysis. From her research findings, it was discovered that tempeh has a high content of meglutol, a compound that can lower cholesterol levels. This meglutol content can be increased by using different types of legumes. “We can increase the meglutol content in tempeh by using various types of beans,” she stated.

Reporter: Ahmad Fauzi (Forestry Engineering, 2021)

Translator: Nadya Fini Nabila (Management, 2023)