Coffee is a currently trending brewed beverage consumed all over the world. Global coffee consumption has increased over the past 50 years. Coffee has a pleasant taste sensation, consisting of a balanced combination of bitterness and acidity. However, due to the enzymes in coffee beans, fresh coffee beans are susceptible to infection and postharvest damage. Several methods are used to dry coffee beans, including natural sun drying, mechanical drying, and hybrid drying methods.
Challenged to find a coffee bean drying technique that minimizes post-harvest damage, Muhammad Irfan Dzaky poured his experiments into a dissertation entitled, “Coffee Bean Drying System Using Double Condenser Refrigeration System as Dehumidifier and Heat Recovery”. This dissertation was presented at the FTUI Doctoral Promotion session on Friday (07/14) at the UI Campus, Depok.
“Post-harvest technology is an effort to improve the quality of handling to reduce shrinkage due to product damage. Postharvest shrinkage of horticultural products ranges from 80%-90% which is the water content. Plantation and agricultural products after the harvest process will occur metabolic activities resulting in physical and chemical damage,” said Muhammad Irfan Dzaky.
Post-harvest technology can generally be divided into two. The first is primary handling which includes handling the product until it becomes a semi-finished product or a product that is ready to be processed, where changes in the product can be seen physically. In contrast, chemical changes do not occur at this stage. Next is secondary handling. At this stage, there will be changes in the physical form and chemical composition of the final product through a product processing process.
In his presentation, Muhammad Irfan Dzaky also revealed that by looking at the opportunities and problems that commonly occur, it is necessary to develop a drying process that has low energy consumption and drying at low temperatures to obtain quality products by minimizing damage to the nutrients contained in them, aroma, and taste.
“The novelty of this research is the drying of coffee beans that utilizes a refrigeration system as dehumidification of drying air and heat recovery to be reversed in areas that have high specific humidity of air in the environment,” he said.
Dean of FTUI, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU, said, “Post-harvest technology is the most effective effort in increasing the shrinkage of production damage. For this reason, one of the efforts in post-harvest technology, namely the development of drying processes that have low energy consumption and drying at low temperatures in terms of handling coffee production, can be a solution to obtain quality products by minimizing damage to the nutrients contained in them, aroma, and taste. This development is a contribution of applicative thinking provided by this FTUI doctoral graduate,” he said.
Muhammad Irfan Dzaky earned his doctorate with the title Summa Cum Laude. This predicate is the first time obtained in a doctoral promotion held by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia. He is the 101st doctor to graduate from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the 512th doctor at FTUI. The doctoral promotion session was led by the Chairman of the Session, Prof. Dr. Ir. Raldi Artono Koestoer, DEA. With Promoter, Prof. Dr. Ir. Engkos A. Kosasih and Co-Promoter, Prof. Dr. Ir. Imansyah Ibnu Hakim, M.Eng. The Examination Team consisted of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Nandy Setiadi Djaya Putra, Ardiyansyah, S.T., M.Eng., Ph.D, Dr.-Ing. Ridho Irwansyah, S.T., M.T., and external examiners from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Gajah Mada University, Prof. Dr. Ir. Indarto, DEA, IPM, ASEAN Eng.
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Public Communication Bureau
Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia