Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

ANALYSIS OF MINERAL CONTENT OF TRADITIONAL PROCESSED COMMUNITY SALT IN KANATANG DISTRICT, EAST SUMBA REGENCY, INDONESIA

Umbu Paru Lowu Dawa, Dewi Setyowaty Gadi, Irwan Umbu Borang and Donny Mercys Bessie

Abstract

Salt farmers in Kanatang District, East Sumba Regency generally produce salt by cooking using firewood in a furnace. The purpose of this study were to determine the technique of making salt, and to know the mineral content of salt produced in Kanatang District, East Sumba Regency. This research has been conducted for 3 months, in the Exacta Laboratory of Artha Wacana Christian University for water content testing and calculation of salt yield. For the testing of NaCl content, minerals (potassium, magnesium, and calcium), heavy metals (lead and cadmium) and iodine were conducted at the Indo Genetech Saraswati Laboratory, Bogor. The research method were qualitative and quantitative descriptive method. The data were statistically analyzed by t-student and the t-value to compare t-table data of t-arithmetic and comparative descriptive. The results of this study showed that water content ranged from 83 - 85%, the yield ranged from 52.11 - 56.83%, NaCl content ranged from 86.24 - 87.12%, iodine ranged from 0.75 - 0.99 mg/Kg, and the minerals which is potassium ranging from 194.01 - 194.09 mg/100 g, magnesium ranging from 501.32 - 675.14 mg/100 g, calcium ranging from 244.27- 535.94 mg/100 g and heavy metals, lead and cadmium were not detected. The conclusion of this study showed that the traditional salt that is produced traditionally in Kanatang District, East Sumba Regency the mineral content (magnesium, potassium, and calcium) was obtained by the high mineral content.