LPkM UMI together with UMI Makassar Pharmacy carried out Community Service using Spices as Health Drinks for the PKK Group in Borisallo Village, Gowa
LPkM and the team, namely Risda Waris and Asni Amin, UMI Pharmacy Lecturers in the field of Pharmacognosy-Phytochemistry, empowered the PKK group in Borisallo Village to utilize family medicinal plants (TOGA) as raw materials for galenica preparations as a preventative health effort for the Gowa community.
The program will start from September to December 2024, the idea of empowering the PKK group was carried out after conducting outreach in Borisallo Village, Gowa. Hilly and mountainous areas are fertile areas for medicinal plants, from plantation areas to residential areas you can find many plants that can be used as traditional medicine. However, the majority of people still have minimal use of traditional medicine as an alternative treatment in their daily lives. Through discussions by a team of pharmacy lecturers with the PKK group in Borisallo village, the fertile plants around the settlement will be utilized to prepare traditional medicines for health phytotherapy for the community.
Precisely today LPkM and the team from UMI Pharmacy gave a seminar regarding how to process raw materials into traditional medicine products and also provided assistance to partners by using spices such as turmeric, galangal and ginger to process them into galenica preparations which maintain body condition and are healthy.
According to Risda, spices such as ginger galangal turmeric are useful for improving the immune system, improving digestion and being able to prevent various diseases if consumed regularly. Ginger contains the ketone compound "zingerone" which causes ginger to have a warm and spicy taste. Turmeric contains "curcumin" which gives the rhizome its distinctive orange color. Meanwhile, galangal has essential oil in the form of "cineol" which is used to treat coughs, stomach ulcers and relieve fatigue after being tired from activities. So these three spices have high selling value and are very popular, especially in Indonesia, and have been traditional medicines for generations (empirical).
Superior commodities are the biggest investment in the Gowa region, consisting of various spices, vegetables and fruit which are very abundant. As a partner of the PKK group in Borisallo Village, Mrs. Ida, head of the PKK in Borisallo Gowa Village, said that "there is very little skill in processing these spices into nutritious beverage products, but she has the determination to develop traditional medicine so she is very grateful to get the knowledge and opportunity to be involved in processing traditional medicine and will develop it."
This community service activity really helps increase the knowledge and awareness of the PKK group in Borisallo Gowa Village regarding the importance of maintaining body condition through the traditional use of spices, related techniques for processing medicinal plant raw materials and the ability to make spices into beverage products that are beneficial for body health. Because it adds experience in terms of processing processes, formulas and functions in making beverage products from spices. This knowledge is useful as a food diversification effort so that it can enrich presentation, taste, age and interest in consumption.
