Chocolate is one of the most desirable types of snack. Ranging from children to adults, everyone likes chocolate. In general, chocolate is marketed in the form of bars, granules, or powder. Chocolate is now being sold at various mixtures, but most chocolates only offer a sweet taste; even more, they are often accused as the cause of obesity. The plant Muntingia Calabura L.. or calabur tree has leaves that contain a lot of anti-oxidants and other benefits, but the utilization is still very rare. Though this plant is easily encountered in Indonesia, it only functions as shade. In this regard, there has been an innovation to combine the two. A group of students from Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMNS) Yogyakarta State University (YSU) namely Astriedianova Putri Aliston and Apriyani from Natural Science Education study program, Azusnita Rachma Putri and Nurul Amalia from Biology Education, and Rosaini from mathematics education made chocolate which is rich in anti-oxidants from calabur leaves.
According to Astriedianova Putri Aliston, anti-oxidants, actually, is not just only contained in the calabur leaves but also in the chocolate itself. "In addition, chocolate is also able to inhibit the oxidation of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and to increase immune function, so as to prevent the risk of coronary heart disease and cancer," Astriedianova said . Apriyani added that in Peru, leaves of calabur are commonly used as a headache remedy and anti-inflammatory. "In addition, calabur leaves serve as an anti-septic, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory agent" she said.
The way to make it is quite simple. Rosaini explains that the raw material is chocolate compound, especially dark chocolate and CBS (Chocolate Butter Substitutes) ordered from one of the chocolate factories in Yogyakarta. "Meanwhile, the white chocolate compound and milk we buy at the bakery grocery store” says Rosaini. Then, the leaves are washed and dried then crushed by using a blender and filtered using a tea strainer. Meanwhile dark chocolate compound, white and CBS are melted and powdered leaves are added to the chocolate batter. Then the liquid chocolate is poured into molds to harden. Anti-oxidants chocolate from calabur leaves is then ready to consume. The creative idea of the FMNS students has been granted the funding from Indonesian Directorate General of Higher Education in Entrepreneurship Student Creativity Program. (Dedy)
