UNS – Students of Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta succeeded in creating natural fungicides from Pamelo orange peel. Thanks to the innovation entitled ‘Darikulo’ (Organic Fungicides from Pamelo Peel), the contingent from UNS won a silver medal at the 2020 Perlis International Engineering Invention & Innovation Exhibition (Pi-Envex) on March 20-22, 2020. The members of the contingent are Ahmad Imam Syafi’i from Diploma Program in Horticulture Agribusiness, Vocational School (SV) UNS, Fauzia Diah Rahayu from Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture (FP) UNS, Gallanta Andre Perdana Putra from Horticulture Agribusiness, SV UNS, Hulwa Anindya Pratiwi from Economics Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP), dan Windi Mulyani from Economics Education Study Program FKIP UNS under the supervision of Feri Setyowibowo, SE., MM.
In the competition organized by Malaysia Research and Innovation Society (MyRis), the five students create Darikulo, organic fungicide products to prevent fruit spoilage in tomato plants. “Darikulo is an organic fungicide product from Pamelo orange peel to prevent fruit spoilage caused by pathogenic Thanatephorus cucumeris in tomato plants,” explains one of the contingent members, Windi Mulyani.
To uns.ac.id, she reveals that tomato is chosen as the innovation object because it is considered as one of the horticultural crops that have high economic value. “The Pi-Envex is focused on the commercialization and marketability, patent or license granted, and design packaging or aesthetic value of the product,” Windi adds. Aside from its function, Windi and her colleagues initiate to reduce the number of Pamelo orange, which skin is often underutilized during when harvested.
Exclusively, Windi details the Darikulo process that needs ethanol as a solvent. Darikulo can be sprayed on Tomato crops once a week to control rotting fruit in tomato plants. This fungicide is environmentally friendly and is less harmless compared to chemical pesticides. “This project presenting innovations for natural pesticides that are environmentally friendly, with an objective to reduce spoilage in tomatoes and reduce Pamelo orange peel waste. Later, Darikulo will be packaged in bottles with a volume of 500 ml at a price of 17,500 rupiah. Darikulo fungicide bottle packaging also comes with a lot of information about products such as brands, goods, Netto volumes,” Humas UNS
Reporter: Yefta Christopherus AS
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
