TARO AS A POTENTIAL SUBSTITUTION INGREDIENT FOR WHEAT

 Taro flour as a solution to the growing demand for wheat imports

    Indonesia's wheat imports are recorded to be high due to the high consumption of wheat-based foods, such as instant noodles, which is second in the world. Several countries, such as India, Kazakhstan, Serbia, and Ukraine, have closed wheat export taps to secure food supplies in their country. This makes the supply of wheat in the global market increasingly limited and can trigger a spike in wheat prices. India also issued a policy of banning wheat exports to control the spike in domestic wheat prices. India is the second largest wheat producer in the world after China.

    Indonesia is one of the countries that must import wheat to meet domestic wheat needs. Indonesia imports 11.7 million tons of wheat or the equivalent of USD 3.45 billion annually. The number of wheat imports rose 31.6 percent over the previous year. The problem is whether the availability of wheat for the needs of the Indonesian people is sufficient and to what extent is the purchasing power of the people towards the domestic price of wheat which is expected to soar.

    Taro is an alternative staple food because it has a fairly good nutritional content. The results showed that the average value of the carbohydrate content of taro tubers was 23.68%, and had a low amount of fat, around 0.2%, and had a high fiber content of up to 5.3 grams. This amount is sufficient to meet the fiber needs of up to 20.5% in a day. So that the calories are not much and suitable as food for diet.

    As a food diversification program, taro is one of the sources of non-rice carbohydrate-producing plants from the tuber class other than cassava and sweet potato with an important role for food diversification. In other countries such as Japan and New Zealand, taro has been used as a raw material for carbohydrate-based products such as bread, cakes, baby food or extruded products. Taro has functional properties that support its successful application in a food product.

    Taro flour is one of the recommended alternative processes for semi-finished products, because it is more resistant to storage, easy to mix (made composites), enriched with nutrients (fortified), shaped, and cooked faster according to the demands of modern life who want everything practical. The procedure for making flour is very diverse, distinguished by the nature and chemical components of the food. The process of making taro flour is simple and easy so that it can be practiced on a household scale. Taro's flour has the potential to be used to maintain flavor and extend the shelf life of processed meat products, as well as other products such as whipped toppings, sausages, chiffon, deserts, brownies, angel cakes, cookies, noodles and etc.