Chayote (Sechium edule) is a familiar vegetable for Indonesian people. It is widely known as labu jipang (Jawa Tengah), manisah (Jawa Timur), and waluh siam (Jawa Barat) and considered as a healthy vegetable which can be consumed daily as salad, sayur lodeh (vegetables in coconut milk soup), oseng-oseng (stir-fry) or sayur asam (indonesian tamarind dish).

The students of Department of Natural Science Education of YSU tried to make innovation for chayote by processing it into a healthy chayote syrup called ‘SILABUS’. They are Fauzia Budi Mariska, Hanifah, Isna Amanatul Hayati, Siti Rahmawati from the Natural Sciences Study Program under supervision of Putri Anjarsari, M.Pd.

According to Fauzia, the vegetable can function as  a dietary food because it contains low calories and sap as well as various substances, namely protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus and iron. In addition, it also used as as a flavor enhancer.

Chayote is consumed to decrease LDL level and hypertension, to keep the kidneys to work properly, to keep healthy blood circulation, to prevent cells from developing into cancer and to reduce the birth defect risks.  It is also good for uric acid and diabetes sufferers.

It needs several steps to produce a chayote syrup. First, peel off the chayote and clean its sap by smearing it. Second, put it into a blender. After being smoothened, filter it and take its juice. Then, heat the juice, add sugar and salt. The last, add citrat acid to the juice and chill it.

The students produce 3 kinds of syrup with 3 different procedures. Syrup A was made of 1 kg of chayote without adding water into the juice. Syrup B was processed from 1 kg of chayote with 250 mL of water. Syrup C was composed from 1 kg of chayote added with 500 mL of water. 1 kg of sugar was added into each kind of syrup. In addition, different doses of citric acid were added namely 10 grams for  syrup A, 8 grams for syrup B, and 6 grams for syrup C.

It was found that formula A is considered as the best composition with 1:1 ratio without adding water. 10 grams citric acid per 1 kg of sugar. The results show that the respondents (consumers) prefer syrup A to the others due to its interesting color and good taste. (Witono N).