Komposisi gula, mineral dan aktiviti ion logam pengkelat daripada sirap arenga pinnata mengunakan proses vakum penyejatan

Palm saps harvested from Arenga pinnata tree which typically known as sweet natural beverage were produced into palm sugars using three different production methods of open pan cooking, freeze dry and vacuum evaporation. Sugars and minerals composition such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, magnesium, potassium, sodium and phosphorus were determined. An iron chelating activity was performed to determine the antioxidant activity of different production methods of palm sugars which related to the ability of chelating the transition metal ions. Results showed that all production methods of palm sugars obtained significantly (p<0.05) different amounts of sugars and minerals. There were significantly (p<0.05) different in ion chelating activity in different production methods of palm sugars. Vacuum evaporated palm syrup exhibited the highest ability in chelating ferrous ion and the vacuum evaporator dominated the highest percentage of chelating ions at 28.20% followed by freeze dryer at 26.31% and open pan at 12.75%, respectively. From the results, slow and controlled temperature by vacuum evaporation could be a promising approach that capable to preserve the ion binding capacity of palm syrup which related in antioxidant activity.