Zedoary Rhizome Herbal Tea (Curcuma zedoaria (Berg.) Roscoe): Innovation of Herbal Teabags for Healthy Maintenance and Against Pathogenic Bacteria

Trisna Darmayanti, AAGN Anom Jambe, I Putu Suparthana

Department of Food Science and Technology,  Udayana University, Kampus Bukit Jimbaran, Badung, Bali  80211, Indonesia

E-mail: ¹trisnadarmayanti@unud.ac.id, suparthana@unud.ac.id

Abstract— Zedoary rhizome (Curcuma zedoaria (Berg) Roscoe) as one of the medicinal plants in Indonesia can be developed into a food product, for example like herbal tea. The development of Zedoary rhizome into herbal tea products in teabag packaging is one of the efforts to diversify food products that have the potential to be developed as functional food products and to preserve ancestral heritage in the field of medicinal plant utilization. Zedoary rhizome has a variety of active compounds that are useful as antimicrobial, antifungal, anticancer, antiallergic, antioxidant, and analgesic. This study aimed to determine the ability of the antibacterial activity of Zedoary rhizome tea to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria in food. The results showed that chemical characteristics such as water content in the drying treatment of 40oC and 50oC had fulfilled the water content required in SNI quality requirements for dry tea in a package of a maximum of 8%.  The results of the antibacterial activity test of theZedoary rhizome herbal showed that the diameter of Escherichia coli clear zone ranged from 3.48 mm and 8.65 mm, and the zone diameter clear Listeria monocytogenes 6.35 mm which is stated to have weak to moderate inhibitory activity. Zedoary rhizome herbal tea has a minimal inhibition with the category of weak and moderate against E. coli with a dose of 1 tea bag weighing 2 g, as well as a moderate inhibition against L. monocytogenes with a dose of 2 tea bags weighing 2 g .

Keywords - Curcuma zedoaria (Berg) Roscoe, herbal teas, antibacterial test

I. INTRODUCTION

The country of Indonesia is geographically located in a tropical region. This condition strongly supports the growth of various types of plants, Zedoary Rhizome (Curcuma zedoaria (Berg) Roscoe). Zedoary Rhizome is a plant that has rhizoma or rhizome, derived from the family Zingiberaceae whose stem tubers are located underground The efficacy of Zedoary rhizome as traditional medicine has been known for a long time. Specifically in the Province of Bali, Zedoary rhizome can be found in the Karangasem and Bangli Regions. In Usada Bali (Balinese traditional medicine), Zedoary rhizome is also referred to as one of the plants that contains medicinal properties, contains various active ingredients such as curcumin, essential oils, methoxycinamic acid, and other active compounds that are very beneficial to health, such as acting as hepatoprotector, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antioxidant [1]. In an effort to improve food security, Zedoary rhizome can be developed into herbal tea products in tea bags. Zedoary rhizome herbal tea can be consumed by the community to maintain health. One of the benefits of Zedoary rhizome that has antimicrobial properties is that it acts as an antibacterial agent to inhibit the development of bacteria in the body. Some bacterial species that are pathogenic in the body include Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes.