The Impact of Blanching and Vacuum Packaging to The Shelf Life of Fresh Seasoned Tempe

Abstract

Tempe is an indigenous fermented food from Indonesia, prepared by the action of molds, Rhizopus sp., on cooked soybeans. In 2012, up to 60% of soybean production went to tempe industry with consumption of tempe reaching 8.5 kg per person per year in Indonesia. However, the export of tempe seems still impossible due to its perishable characteristic whose shelf life is very short. Preblanching and vacuum packaging were expected to extend the shelf life of tempe. This research was aimed to study the application of blanching and vacuum packaging on the shelf life of fresh-seasoned tempe. Steam blanching of 80 oC for three minutes was selected from pre-investigation for pre-treatment of the tempe without inducing cooked-tempe characteristic. The result of main research revealed that steam blanching and vacuum packaging were able to extend the shelf life of fresh-seasoned tempe for two days in room temperature (23-24 oC), 32 days in refrigeration temperature (4-6 oC), and 49 days in chilling temperature (0-4 oC). The pH of tempe was found increasing during storage with texture getting overstuffed or tender during storage.