Peningkatan Mutu Beras Giling Menggunakan Zeolit Pada Berbagai Ketebalan Lapisan Pengeringan Gabah

Abstrak. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kualitas gabah yang dihasilkan pada berbagai kombinasi ketebalan tumpukan gabah dan penambahan jumlah zeolit pada proses pengeringan, serta kualitas beras giling yang dihasilkan berdasarkan persentase kadar air, butir beras kepala dan butir beras patah. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode ekperimental menggunakan box dryer, sedangkan design penelitian yang digunakan adalah Rancangan Acak Kelompok Faktorial dengan tiga kali ulangan pada setiap kombinasi perlakuan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa semakin tipis lapisan gabah, maka proses pengeringan menjadi lebih cepat. Demikian pula dengan semakin banyak zeolit yang ditambahkan, maka proses pengeringan membutuhkan waktu yang lebih singkat. Perlakuan lapisan gabah 30 cm dan komposisi zeolit 10% mampu memberikan waktu pengeringan tercepat, yaitu sembilan jam dengan rerata kadar air gabah 13,5%. Ketebalan lapisan gabah dan penambahan zeolit secara signifikan mempengaruhi kualitas fisik beras giling, meliputi persentase kadar air, butir beras kepala, beras patah, beras menir dan butir gabah. Perlakuan ketebalan lapisan gabah 30 cm dengan persentase komposisi zeolit 10% memberikan nilai persentase butir beras kepala tertinggi, yaitu 92,5% dan butir beras patah terendah, yaitu 4,1%. Sebagian besar perlakuan menghasilkan beras dengan kualitas komersial dengan mutu menengah.Improving The Quality Of Milled Rice Using Zeolite At Various Levels Of Paddy Drying Layer Thickness.Abstract. The aim of this study was to determine the quality of the grain produced at various combinations of the paddy pile thickness and the addition of the amount of zeolite in the drying process, as well as the quality of milled rice produced based on the percentage of water content, head rice grains, and broken rice grains. The method used in this research is an experimental method using a box dryer. While the research design used was a factorial randomized block design with three replications for each treatment combination. The results showed that the thinner the layer of paddy, the faster the drying process. Likewise, the more zeolite was added, the drying process took a shorter time. Treatment of 30 cm paddy layer and 10% zeolite composition was able to provide the fastest drying time, which was nine hours with an average grain moisture content of 13.5%. The thickness of the paddy layer and the addition of zeolite significantly affected the physical quality of milled rice, including the percentage of moisture content, head of rice grains, broken rice, groats, and grain. Treatment of the thickness of the 30 cm grain layer with 10 % zeolite composition percentage gave the highest grain percentage value of rice heads, namely 92.5%, and the lowest broken rice grains, namely 4.1%. Most of the treatments produced rice of medium quality commercial quality.