Luak Coffee Tracker
She is first to discover a formula to identify the authenticity of luak coffee. Her work became an international reference.
LUAK (civet) coffee holds a special place in Sastia Prama Putri’s heart. She is the first researcher who discovered a way to identify the authenticity of the exotic Indonesian coffee. Her research was published in journals from four prestigious institutions, including the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Thanks to her work, Sastia became a permanent lecturer in Osaka University, an esteemed college in Japan.
It all started from Saskia’s concern nine years ago, of how easily luak coffee is counterfeited. That time, she had just finished her doctoral program in the International Center for Biotechnology, Osaka University. Sastia chose to stay in Japan. Armed with knowledge in a new branch of scientific study, metabolomics, she applied to the Osaka University laboratory to develop the applied science she had been studying in her magister and doctoral programs for the last four years.
Her first project was a joint biofuel research between the governments of Japan and the United States. While working on this project, Sastia was requested by her professor, Eiichiro Fukusaki, to supervise a new magistrate student from Indonesia. During her supervision, Sastia often discussed with the student on research ideas involving luak coffee. “Luak coffee was booming at the time. But there was not yet a way to distinguish between authentic, mixed, or counterfeited luak coffee,” said Sastia when Tempo met her at her house in the Fatmawati area, South Jakarta, on Monday, May 6.
Luak coffee is the most expensive coffee. Each cup may cost hundreds of thousands of rupiah. This expensive price is due to the coffee’s unique production method and limited yield, which involves the coffee beans being eaten by Asian palm civets (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). Because of the coffee’s high value, a large number of fakes emerged. Generally speaking, the authenticity of luak coffee may be visually ascertained so long as it remains in the form of beans. Once ground or served as beverage, it is difficult to be sure of its authenticity.
From temporary research data, Sastia also found out that certification and authentication are the most prominent problems for Indonesian coffee. The 37-year-old woman grew interest to develop a means to identify the authenticity of luak coffee, in order to maintain Indonesia’s prestige in the global coffee trade.
She then submitted a research proposal for the identification of luak coffee through metabolomics method to Professor Fukusaki. Metabolomics is a study which combines biology, chemistry, and statistics that deals with metabolite, a chemical compound involved in the metabolism process of living creatures. The science’s application ranges from medical to agricultural purposes. Metabolomics studies are rapidly growing in the United Kingdom, United States, Japan, and Europe.
Some days later, the professor gave his response for Sastia’s proposal. “I am recruiting you for the American project, you should give your 100 percent effort towards it. I allow you to study coffee, but we cannot fund it,” said Sastia, recalling Professor Fukusaki’s reply.
Lack of funding support from her professor did not break Sastia’s spirit. She took leaves in between the biofuel project, using money from her own pocket to return to Indonesia. With temporary research data in her possession, she flew straight to the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute in Jember, East Java.
Sastia was warmly welcomed by the Coffee Research Center Team. She obtained samples of various types of coffee, both those that had been eaten by civets and those that had not. “We provided every sample Bu Sastia needed, arabica and robusta, either already digested by civets or otherwise,” said the caretaker for Coffee Flavor Laboratory of the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute, Yusianto.
The Coffee Research Center Team assisted Sastia in roasting coffee taken as samples from various regions. Yusianto, a coffee expert, also selected quality beans for the purpose. Having spent two weeks in Jember, Sastia flew back to Osaka to take her research into the laboratory. The coffee samples contained strikingly similar compounds. What stood out the most was the difference between coffee varieties based on their geographical locations. “The data were very complex,” said Sastia.
After spending a year profiling various coffees and overhauling her research instruments, Sastia finally discovered a sure means to test the authenticity of luak coffee. She used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry instrument.
Sastia analyzed the components present in both coffee that had been consumed by luak and coffee that had not passed through the animal. “After being digested, the components changed,” said Sastia, who obtained her undergraduate degree in Biology from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).
She found that coffee’s malic acid and citric acid concentrations become higher after being consumed by civets. These are the indicators which finally can be used to determine the authenticity of luak coffee. The increased acidity also affects the coffee’s flavor. “Without metabolomics, it would be difficult to get the marker,” she said.
She found that coffee’s malic acid and citric acid concentrations become higher after being consumed by civets. These are the indicators which finally can be used to determine the authenticity of luak coffee. The increased acidity also affects the coffee’s flavor. “Without metabolomics, it would be difficult to get the marker,” she said.
Sastia repeated the research using more numerous samples. “Could that tendency be reproduced? The result remained consistent,” said this adjunct lecturer in ITB. The research attracted her mentor in Osaka University. “My supervising professor started to expand the studies so that they not only encompass food products from Japan and East Asia, but also Indonesia,” said the mother of one. Sastia’s work also became international reference for luak coffee research and published in journals by four prestigious institutions in the world.
Having gained support from her professor, Sastia is finally able to expand her collaboration with various college and institution in Indonesia. She now no longer have to worry about research funding. Aside from the Coffee and Cocoa Research Institution, she also works with the ITB, Bogor Institute of Agriculture, the Technology Application and Assessment Agency, and Pipiltin. They are currently conducting research on tempe (soybean cake), mangoes, mangosteens, cocoa, and shrimps. “I was given opportunity in Japan. They have useful technology, but limited to only Japan and the United States. I wanted to to something for Indonesia,” said Sastia. “To help increase the quality of foods in Indonesia.”
Sastia leads three out of five laboratory teams in Osaka Univesity. Twenty magister and doctoral students from Indonesia and Japan are helping her researching varieties of mangoes, mangosteens, and authenticating cocoa. Sastia continues her research on coffee. “We know the good quality of Indonesian coffee. To increase the quality, what must we target?” she asked.
Sastia remains collaborating with with the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute. Her expired five-year contract of cooperation has been renewed to map the quality of coffee quantitatively.