An Ethnobiological Study of Indigenous Knowledge about the Traditional Production of Coconut Sugar Within the Somongari Javanese Community
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32871/rmrj2513.02.09Keywords:
biodiversity, biodiversity value, coconut, coconut sugar, cultural, ethnobiology, indigenous knowledge, laru, sajeng, Somongari Javanese communityAbstract
Background: Coconut sugar is a traditional product widely consumed in Indonesia, including by the Javanese community of Somongari. Despite its importance, the knowledge of coconut sugar production in Somongari remains undocumented, as it is passed down primarily through oral tradition. This study seeks to explore the traditional coconut sugar-making practices of the Somongari Javanese community from an ethnobiological perspective.
Methods: This study employed a field exploration approach in Somongari Village, Indonesia, incorporating interviews, observation, and documentation. Twenty-four informants, comprising twenty sugar makers and four key informants, were interviewed.
Results: Coconut sugar is produced from the sap of coconut flowers (sajeng) and is cooked until thickened and molded. The natural remedy used in the production of coconut sugar is laru. Laru comprises enjet (limestone) and lathi manggis (sap of mangosteens). The manufacturing process utilizes traditional tools and techniques, comprising three stages: ndewan (coconut sap collection), genen (cooking the coconut sap until it thickens), and nitis (molding the coconut sap).
Conclusion: The indigenous knowledge of coconut sugar production embodies the close relationship between biodiversity and cultural heritage. The utilization of local plants contributes to both the production and consumption values, highlighting the need to preserve this practice through documentation and integration into educational and community learning to sustain ecological and cultural values.
References
Adam, A. A., Othman, N., Halim, A. A., Ismail, S. R., & Samah, A. A. (2019). The practice of biodiversity–related indigenous knowledge in Kota Belud, Sabah: A preliminary study. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 27(S1), 215–225. http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/pjssh/browse/special-issue?article=JSSH(S)-0973-20
Adinugraha, F. (2022). An approach to local wisdom and cultural in Biology learning. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference of Education and Science (ICES 2021). European Alliance for Innovation (EAI). https://doi.org/10.4108/eai.17-11-2021.2318660
Adinugraha, F., Zubaidah, S., Lestari, S. R., & Chua, K. H. (2024). Ethnobiology of plants and animals used as ubarampe in the Kepungan tradition of the Javanese Community of Somongari , Purworejo District , Indonesia. Biodiversitas, 25(8), 2521–2532. https://doi.org/10.13057/biodiv/d250824
Adisetya, E., & Krisdiarto, A. W. (2022). Preservative of coconut sap shelf life derived from mangosteen yellow latex. JITIPARI (Jurnal Ilmiah Teknologi dan Industri Pangan UNISRI), 7(1), 59–67. https://doi.org/10.33061/jitipari.v7i1.6757
Agaton, S. I. G. (2022). The tuba culture in Leyte, Philippines. Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 10(2), 75-85. https://doi.org/10.32871/rmrj2210.02.01
Albuquerque, U. P., Cunha, L. V. F. C. da, Lucena, R. F. P., & Alves, R. R. N. (Eds). (2014). Methods and techniques in ethnobiology and ethnoecology. Humana. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8636-7
Arsih, F., Zubaidah, S., Suwono, H., & Gofur, A. (2019). The exploration of educational value in Randai Minangkabau art, Indonesia. Journal for the Education of Gifted Young Scientists, 7(4), 1225–1248. https://doi.org/10.17478/jegys.605463
Asghar, M. T., Yusof, Y. A., Mokhtar, M. N., Yaacob, M. E., Ghazali, H. M., Chang, L. S., & Manaf, Y. N. (2020). Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) sap as a potential source of sugar: Antioxidant and nutritional properties. Food Science and Nutrition, 8(4), 1777–1787. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.1191
Asghar, M. T., Yusof, Y. A., Mokhtar, M. N., Yaacob, M. E., Chang, H. M. G., & Sin, L. (2021). A review of nutritional facts, production, availability and future aspects of coconut palm sugar. Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences, 11(3), 1–8. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/A-Review-of-Nutritional-Facts%2C-Production%2C-and-of-Asghar-Yusof/dff84ef636af674ca6bbc82408a06273acf8cdab
Asghar, M. T., Yusof, Y. A., Mokhtar, M. N., Yaacob, M. E., Ghazali, H. M., Varith, J., Chang, L. S., & Manaf, Y. N. (2020). Processing of coconut sap into sugar syrup using rotary evaporation, microwave, and open-heat evaporation techniques. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 100(10), 4012–4019. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.10446
Azis, S., Zubaidah, S., Mahanal, S., Batoro, J., & Sumitro, S. B. (2020). Local knowledge of traditional medicinal plants use and education system on their young of Ammatoa Kajang Tribe in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Biodiversitas, 21(9), 3989–4002. https://doi.org/10.13057/biodiv/d210909
Bharath, K. N., Manjunatha, G. . B., & Dileepkumar, S. G. (2019). Characterization of biocomposite material from naturally woven coconut leaf sheath reinforced polymer composites. International Journal of Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 5(4), 132–136. https://doi.org/10.15406/ijbsbe.2019.05.00166
Broschat, T. K., & Crane, J. H. (2020). The coconut palm in Florida. UF/IFAS Extension.
Chakrabarty, S. P., Tanoue, M., & Penteado, A. (2022). The trouble is, you think you have time: Traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples in Japan and India, the reality of biodiversity exploitation. Environmental Management 72, 100-112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01560-0
Chan, E., & Elevitch, C. R. (2006). Cocos nucifera (coconut) (Version 2.1). In C. R. Elevitch (Ed.), Species profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry. Permanent Agriculture Resources (PAR). https://doi.org/10.1079/9781780648279.0079
Costa, C. P., Patinha, S., Rudnitskaya, A., Santos, S. A. O., Silvestre, A. J. D., & Rocha, S. M. (2022). Sustainable valorization of Sambucus nigra L. Berries: From crop biodiversity to nutritional value of juice and pomace. Foods, 11(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11010104
Credo, M. C., & Valmoria, R. T. (2019). Development and performance evaluation of an indirect heat copra dryer with phase changer. Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 7(1), 27–36. https://doi.org/10.32871/rmrj1907.01.03
Dorly, Tjitrosoemito, S., Poerwanto, R., & Juliarni. (2008). Secretory duct structure and phytochemistry compounds of yellow latex in mangosteen fruit. HAYATI Journal of Biosciences, 15(3), 99–104. https://doi.org/10.4308/hjb.15.3.99
Gatti, N., Gomez, M. I., Bennett, R. E., Sillett, T. S., & Bowe, J. (2022). Eco-labels matter: Coffee consumers value agrochemical-free attributes over biodiversity conservation. Food Quality and Preference, 98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104509
Gutierrez-Orozco, F., & Failla, M. L. (2013). Biological activities and bioavailability of mangosteen xanthones: A critical review of the current evidence. Nutrients, 5(8), 3163–3183. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu5083163
Haryanti, P., Karseno, & Setyawati, R. (2018). Natural preservatives application form nira coconut powder made against Green Betel physical and chemical properties coconut sugar. Rural Development Journal, 1(1), 103–109. https://www.neliti.com/publications/473959/natural-preservatives-application-form-nira-coconut-powder-made-against-green-be
Haryanti, P., & Sulistyo, S. B. (2022). The effects of adding lysine to sap on chemical characteristics and antioxidant activity of granulated coconut sugar. Food Research, 6(3), 306–314. https://doi.org/10.26656/fr.2017.6(3).420
Haryanti, P., Supriyadi, Marseno, D. W., & Santoso, U. (2016). Chemical properties of coconut sap obtained at different tapping time and addition of preservatives. The International Journal of Science & Technoledge, 4(11), 102–107. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0278364911408631
Haryanti, P., Supriyadi, Marseno, D. W., & Santoso, U. (2018). Effects of different weather conditions and addition of mangosteen peel powder on chemical properties and antioxidant activity of coconut sap. AgriTech, 38(3), 295–303. https://doi.org/10.22146/agritech.29844
Hebbar, K. B., Arivalagan, M., Manikantan, M. R., Mathew, A. C., Thamban, C., Thomas, G. V., & Chowdappa, P. (2015). Coconut inflorescence sap and its value addition as sugar-Collection techniques, yield, properties and market perspective. Current Science, 109(8), 1411–1417. https://doi.org/10.18520/v109/i8/1411-1417
Hebbar, K. B., Ramesh, S. V., Ghosh, D. K., Beegum, P. P. S., Pandiselvam, R., Manikantan, M. R., & Mathew, A. C. (2022). Coconut sugar-a potential storehouse of nutritive metabolites, novel bio-products and prospects. Sugar Tech, 24(3), 841–856. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-021-01101-3
Huisman, J. L. A., Franco, K., & van Hout, R. (2021). Linking linguistic and geographic distance in four semantic domains: Computational geo-analyses of internal and external factors in a dialect continuum. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 4, 663035. https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2021.668035
Karseno, Erminawati, Yanto, T., Setyowati, R., & Haryanti, P. (2018). Effect of pH and temperature on browning intensity of coconut sugar and its antioxidant activity. Food Research, 2(1), 32–38. https://doi.org/10.26656/fr.2017.2(1).175
Kowsalya, P., Kamalapreetha, B., Anbarasan, R., & Mahendran, R. (2023). Processing of coconut neera to produce sugar granules and study on its properties. Sugar Tech, 25, 603–609. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-022-01208-1
Kuttankulangara Manoharan, S., & Megalingam, R. K. (2019). Coconut tree structure analysis - background work for an unmanned coconut harvesting robot design. In S. Minz, S. Karmakar, & L. Kharb (Eds.), Information, communication and computing technology: ICICCT 2018 (Communications in Computer and Information Science, 835, pp. 180–190). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-5992-7_18
Lestari, S. R., Rohman, F., Utomo, D. H., Purwanto, Arifah, S. N., Annisa, Y., & Mohamad, J. (2020). Development of ethnobotany-based booklets as learning tools for communities. Proceedings of the International Conference on Learning Innovation 2019, 446, 15–20. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.200711.004
Ludwig, D. (2018). Does cognition still matter in ethnobiology? Ethnobiology Letters, 9(2), 269–275. https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.9.2.2018.1350
Medeiros, M. F. T. (2016). Historical ethnobiology. In U. Albuquerque & R. Nóbrega Alves (Eds.), Introduction to Ethnobiology (pp. 19–24). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28155-1_4
Mustaufik, Sutiarso, L., Rahayu, S., & Widodo, K. H. (2022). Technique engineering of tapping and shelter of coconut sap and its effect on the quality of crystal coconut sugar. Food Research, 6(2), 248–254. https://doi.org/10.26656/fr.2017.6(2).220
Novarianto, H., Tulalo, M. A., & Mawardi, S. (2021). Effects of different weather conditions and addition of mangosteen peel powder on chemical properties and antioxidant activity of coconut sap. Cord, 37, 23–32. https://doi.org/10.37833/cord.v37i.444
Nurhadi, B., Sukri, N., Sugandi, W. K., Widanti, A. P., Restiani, R., Noflianrini, Z., Rezaharsamto, B., & Herudiyanto, M. (2018). Comparison of crystallized coconut sugar produced by traditional method and amorphous coconut sugar formed by two drying methods: Vacuum drying and spray drying. International Journal of Food Properties, 21(1), 2339–2354. https://doi.org/10.1080/10942912.2018.1517781
Obi Reddy, K., Sivamohan Reddy, G., Uma Maheswari, C., Varada Rajulu, A., & Madhusudhana Rao, K. (2010). Structural characterization of coconut tree leaf sheath fiber reinforcement. Journal of Forestry Research, 21(1), 53–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-010-0008-0
Ogar, E., Pecl, G., & Mustonen, T. (2020). Science must embrace traditional and indigenous knowledge to solve our biodiversity crisis. One Earth, 3(2), 162–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.07.006
Pemdes Somongari. (2021, March 24). Daftar isian potensi Desa Somongari [Unpublished – Public Report]. Pemdes Somongari.
Sanchez, J. M. P. (2022). Development of science research culture in basic education: A theory generation. Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 10(1), 131–140. https://doi.org/10.32871/rmrj2210.01.10
Saraiva, A., Carrascosa, C., Ramos, F., Raheem, D., Lopes, M., & Raposo, A. (2023). Coconut sugar: Chemical analysis and nutritional profile; health impacts; safety and quality control; food industry applications. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043671
Sattari, M., & Mahdavian, L. (2019). Thermodynamic properties of the bubble growth process in a pool boiling of water-ethanol mixture two-component system. Open Chemistry, 17(1), 88–95. https://doi.org/10.1515/chem-2019-0010
Shephard, S., Muhindo, J., Nyumu, J., Mbangale, E., Nziavake, S., Cerutti, P., & van Vliet, N. (2023). Uneven transmission of traditional knowledge and skills in a changing wildmeat system: Yangambi, Democratic Republic of Congo. Frontiers in Conservation Science, 4, 1278699. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2023.1278699
Silalahi, M., & Nisyawati. (2018). The ethnobotanical study of edible and medicinal plants in the home garden of Batak Karo sub-ethnic in north Sumatra, Indonesia. Biodiversitas, 19(1), 229–238. https://doi.org/10.13057/biodiv/d190131
Somawiharja, Y., Wonohadidjojo, D. M., Kartikawati, M., Suniati, F. R. T., & Purnomo, H. (2018). Indigenous technology of tapping, collecting and processing of coconut (Cocos nucifera) sap and its quality in Blitar Regency, East Java, Indonesia. Food Research, 2(4), 398–403. https://doi.org/10.26656/fr.2017.2(4).075
Supiandi, M. I., Syafruddin, D., Gandasari, A., Mahanal, S., & Zubaidah, S. (2023). Animals ethnozoology as traditional medicine in the Dayak Tamambaloh Tribe, Labian Ira’ang Village, Kapuas Hulu District, Indonesia. Biodiversitas, 24(1), 26–33. https://doi.org/10.13057/biodiv/d240104
Svetovoy, V., Postnikov, A., Uvarov, I., Sanders, R., & Krijnen, G. (2016). Overcoming the fundamental limit: Combustion of a hydrogen-oxygen mixture in micro- and nano-bubbles. Energies, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/en9020094
Thumrongchote, D. (2021). Identification of Thai coconut sugar (Cocos nucifera L.) and prediction moisture content in Thai coconut sugar using FT-NIR spectroscopy. Food Research, 5(4), 382–385. https://doi.org/10.26656/fr.2017.5(4).260
Wrage, J., Burmestera, S., Kuballaa, J., & Rohnb, S. (2019). Coconut sugar (Cocos nucifera L.): Production process, chemical characterization, and sensory properties. LWT-Food Science and Technology, 112, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2019.05.125
Yu, A. L. E., & De Catalina, J. Z. (2024). Manobo, Bagobo, and Mansaka Indigenous Cosmology: Rediscovering culture through dramatist pentad structures of folk heroes. Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 12(1), 169–180. https://doi.org/10.32871/rmrj2412.01.13
Zubaidah, S., & Arsih, F. (2021). Indonesian culture as a means to study science. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2330(March). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0043173
Zulfia, V., Ainuri, M., Khuriyati, N., Yusuf, R., Alim, A. S., & Pato, U. (2022). Optimizing of the parameters of coconut sugar production using Taguchi design in Riau, Indonesia. International Journal on Advanced Science, Engineering and Information Technology, 12(2), 725-758. https://doi.org/10.18517/ijaseit.12.2.15684
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 The Authors. Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal is published by the University of San Jose-Recoletos, Philippines.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright of the journal belongs to the University of San Jose-Recoletos
