Food Security Through Local Innovation: Developing Sustainable Snacks from Indonesian Honey Sweet Potatoes
Kezia Elsty
Culinary Arts, Pradita University, Indonesia
Keywords: Indonesian honey sweet potato, snack, food security.
Abstract:
In 2024, Indonesia was the Southeast Asian country with the highest amount of food waste, totalling 14.73 tons per year (Goodsats, 2024). Food waste originates from household or business processing of leftovers, such as fruit and vegetable peels, or from root and fruit crops that have less-than-ideal appearances and are therefore not sold. Additionally, Indonesia ranked 63rd among 113 countries in the Global Food Security Index (Impact.Economist, 2022), indicating a need to improve food security, particularly in terms of sustainability and adaptability. In 2024, the Indonesian government issued Presidential Decree No 81 on the Acceleration of Food Diversification Based on Local Resource Potential, encouraging the public not to rely solely on a narrow range of food commodities, such as rice, but also to explore the diverse range of local food sources in Indonesia as potential alternatives for future food sustainability. Indonesia is a tropical country where various root crops, such as cassava, sweet potato, taro, and porang, grow abundantly. One of the crops explored further in this study is sweet potato, specifically Indonesian honey sweet potato, which has less-than-ideal appearances. Using a quantitative approach with experimental methods and a hedonic test, a snack product was developed from a flour blend made from Indonesian honey sweet potatoes to produce thin, crispy snacks and evaluate sensory responses. The experiment involved three formulations, with a 25% interval between each formulation of Indonesian honey sweet potato flour relative to the total dry ingredients used in the snack product. The use of honey sweet potato flour contributed to a crunchy, dense texture and a slightly sweet taste from the plant’s natural sweetness. The hedonic test results showed positive feedback from respondents who liked the snack products containing Indonesian honey sweet potatoes.
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