Brilio.net/en - Indonesian people are quite familiar with the rambutan fruit. Its meaty core is shielded by a hairy shell in which people will almost always throw away.
However, in the hands of five students from Diponegoro University (Undip) that consists of Bintari Fajar Kurnianingtyas, Gana Malinda Putri, Siti Rohmawati, and Aisyah, rambutan peels have been turned into a hand soap named kulit buah rambutan antibakteri (antibacterial rambutan peel), and abbreviated as Kuburan.
Bintari Fajar Kurnianingtyas (21) explained the idea of using the peel of rambutan initially came when she saw many hygiene products that utilize mangosteen peel. Bintari and her friends then explored the thought if other fruit peels that can be utilized.
Because there are a lot of rambutan trees in Tembalang, Semarang, they tried to find a journal that would enlighten them to the contents of the fruit. As a result, they found out that rambutan peel actually contains saponin, tannin, and polyphenols.
Polyphenols character is bitter and it can produce foam so it is suitable to be developed as a hand-washing soap, said Bintari to brilio.net/en, Wednesday (19/8).
Bintari, a student from the Faculty of Public Health, explained that saponin and tannin can be used as an antioxidant and antibacterial. These substances are very supportive for rambutan peel to be utilized as hand soap because it can killgerms.
The soap making process is not too difficult. First, a washed rambutan peel is cut into small pieces before being blended. After that, it is filtered using filter paper to obtain its extract. This extract would then be mixed with some chemicals to form hand soap.
Hopefully, this hand-washing soap can be used in many peoples daily life because it is quite natural, added Bintari.