The Lecturer Team of Fishery Product Technology Study Program, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences (FPIK) on Saturday (09/28/2024), held a community service activity in Krenceng Village, Nglegok District, Blitar Regency. This activity aims to improve the knowledge and skills of the local community in measuring and ensuring the quality of fish-based nugget products using sensory testing methods.
The training attended by fish-based food product processing business actors in the village, includes theory and practice on how to conduct sensory testing to assess the quality of nugget products. Sensory testing is a method that involves human senses, such as smell, sight, taste, and texture, to assess the characteristics of a food product. This is very important for nugget producers to ensure that the products produced have good quality and accepted by consumers.
The activity began with a theoretical explanation about sensory testing by lecturers, who explained the importance of organoleptic testing in the food industry, especially in measuring the taste, smell, and texture aspects of fish nuggets. After that, participants were taught how to conduct trials involving panelists consisting of local people and training participants. They were asked to taste various nugget samples and provide assessments based on categories such as taste, softness, color, and aroma.
According to Prof. Dr. Ir. Hardoko, MS, one of the lecturers involved in this activity, “Sensory testing is a simple but effective way to measure the quality of food products. For local entrepreneurs, understanding this test can help them improve product quality and increase competitiveness in the market.”
This training also provides insight into the importance of product quality standardization to attract consumer interest. With the sensory test, it is hoped that nugget entrepreneurs in Krenceng Village can produce products with consistent quality and meet good food safety standards.
In addition, participants also received information on aspects of marketing and distribution of processed fish food products, which will help them develop their businesses more professionally. Not only in terms of quality, but also how to package and promote products effectively.
This community service activity received a positive response from the local community. One of the fish nugget entrepreneurs, Siti, said that this training was very useful since it could teach more widely about the quality of nuggets correctly.
“Hopefully, our products can be better accepted in the market and develop even better,” she said.
Through this training, the FPIK UB FisheryProduct Technology Study Program not only provides technical knowledge to the community, but also plays a role in empowering the local economy.
Lecturers and students involved in this activity hope that the knowledge shared can provide a sustainable impact on improving the quality of products and the welfare of Krenceng Village community, and can be used as a model for other villages in Blitar Regency.
This community service activity is part of Universitas Brawijaya’s commitment to provide real contributions to community development, especially in the fisheries processing sector which is increasingly developing in Indonesia. [FPIK PR/UB PR/ Trans. Iir]
