Indonesia wants to become world's tempeh center

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto ordered the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) to take necessary measures to ensure that Indonesia's position as a leading producer and center for studies on tempeh remained.

The President expressed concern that tempeh was often claimed as a national product of other foreign countries, while Indonesia was unaware of its benefits.

"Indonesians have consumed tempeh for centuries, even during the Majapahit kingdom era," LIPI chairman Soefjan Tsauri quoted the President as saying in their meeting at the Bina Graha presidential office yesterday.

The President ordered LIPI to conduct a thorough study on tempeh early this year because it has become an international food.

According to Tri Susanto, a professor in food technology at Brawijaya University's School of Agriculture in Malang, tempeh is a health food which contains complete protein, eight kinds of essential amino acids, antibiotic elements and growth stimulation. It is also high in vitamin B12, low in fat and cholesterol and easy to digest.

The processing of tempeh could be the oldest food technology in the history of Javanese people. Serat Centini 12, a book published in the 16th century, indicates that tempeh was produced and consumed by the time of the book's publication.

"We must move quickly before other people grab this national asset," Soeharto said when Tsauri reported that a book on tempeh was recently published in Japan and in the U.S.

Tri said, in Europe, tempeh is known by the Dutch who once colonized Indonesia.

In America, tempeh has been known since 1946. In Japan, Kiku Mirata, a professor at Osaka University, founded the Japanese Tempeh Society.

"We will register patents on tempeh technology, especially the processing technology," Tsauri said.

There are about 100 companies in the U.S. and Europe producing tempeh and tempeh-based products, including sausage, burgers and drinks, Tri said.

Tsauri revealed to the President on the institute's success in producing a high quality yeast, now popular among tempeh producers in Java.

"We have also used soybean seed which can produce much better tempeh," he said.

There are about 60 similar companies in Japan, which no longer concentrate on first or second generation tempeh products (like tempeh teriyaki) but now develop third generation products like tablets, biscuits and enzymes.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, soybean consumption of the nation reaches two million tons per year, 70 percent of it is used for producing tempeh and tofu ketchup.

Soeharto said people should be proud of the cheap food because it attracted international attention.

People, said Tsauri, tend to degrade the food with sayings like "tempeh nation" or "tempeh mentality", meaning something negative.

"We shouldn't feel inferior as a tempeh nation," the President said. (prb)