Effect of Preservatives and Storage Temperature on the Quality and Antioxidant Stability of Snake Fruit Peel Tea Drink

Salak is a tropical fruit that is widely found in Indonesia, the skin of the snake fruit which has been considered waste turns out to have health benefits. The skin of the snake fruit contains flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, and other compounds that contribute to these benefits. Snack fruit peel tea contains phenolic compounds with strong anioxidant and but its stability during storage has not benn comprehensively evaluated. Previous research focused on extraction optimization, so there is still a gap regarding how preservatives and storage conditions affect product stability. This study utilized snake fruit peel to produce a functional tea, with optimal brewing conditions determined at 100°C for 5 minutes, and the evaluate the effect of different preservatives (sodium benzoate (100mg/L), calcium propionate (100mg/L), and their balanced combination (50 + 50 mg/L) and two storage temperatures (27°C and 4°C). The parameters observed included antioxidant activity (DPPH radical scavenging), pH, total sugar (°Brix). Observations were conducted, analyzing antioxidant content, total soluble solids (°Brix), pH, over a 10-day storage period. All preservative concentrations complied with BPOM and Codex Alimentarius standards. The results showed that refrigerated storage was more effective in preserving antioxidant activity and maintaining physicochemical stability compared to room temperature storage. Antioxidant retention after 10 days was significantly higher under refrigerated storage than room temperature storage Treatments with sodium benzoate and calcium propionate exhibited better stability than the control, particularly under cold storage conditions. Sodium benzoate and calcium propionate individually maintained antioxidant stability better than the control, while the combination treatment showed no synergistic improvement.