Kombucha Candy for Digestive Problems, a UI Student's Innovation

TheIndonesia.id - A student from the Faculty of Nursing, University of Indonesia (FIK UI), Feyza Hilyata made an innovation of healthy jelly stick candy containing kombucha, a cherry fruit, and herbal plants to overcome digestive problems. She brought this idea to NUS Food Tech Challenge 2022 in Singapore.

"The problem that is in the spotlight related to digestion in Asia is very important, especially in Indonesia. The jelly stick product called BuchaBons can be an alternative for digestive problems," said Feyza Hilyata in a statement in Depok, Sunday, September 4, 2022.

Furthermore, Hilyata explained that BuchaBons is expected to be a substitute product for healthy snacks. BuchaBons is based on kombucha which is a tea with scoby mushrooms that contains healthy bacteria plus probiotic mushrooms. The sweetener used for BucbaBons comes from a local cherry plant called "Kersen". Cherry fruit acts as a sugar substitute which triggers kombucha to ferment. Besides being sweet, cherries also have anti-diabetic properties.

There are several variants of BuchaBons made using local Indonesian herbal plants. This product is made from probiotic sources, low in sugar, friendly to vegetable lovers, delicious, and at affordable price. BuchaBons are easy to carry and can be consumed anywhere.

"To be honest, it was unexpected (to win), because the concept of the competition is different from what I usually participate in. Incidentally, the competition is quite long in duration and coincides with the exam at the faculty. This (win) is a miracle from God," said Hilyata.

Hilyata brought this product to the NUS Food Tech Challenge 2022 competition. This annual competition brings together students from various universities around the world to exchange ideas and develop innovative food technology ideas to address the problems facing the food industry today.

NUS FTC 2022 presents a challenge that focuses on creating new food concepts that have valuable benefits such as health and pleasure to excite Asian consumers. The series of competitions consist of a pre-competition (online workshop), a preliminary round, mentoring with industry experts, and the final round through presentations from all finalists to convey their ideas to the judges.

BuchaBons are a healthy choice for digestion. The innovation was submitted to the Nestle category on health problems in Asia.

Feyza Hilyata, who is a member of the Boocaw Team with Annisa Belva from Binus University, won 2nd place in the 2022 NUS FoodTech Challenge Competition in Singapore. She hopes that this achievement can inspire other students to collaborate in channeling their innovative ideas, so that they can contribute to the surrounding community.