<![CDATA[ABSTRACT This study aimed to determine the effect of adding chitosan on the shelf life of wet gourd fruit syrup. This study used a completely randomized design (CRD) using the addition of chitosan solution and wet gourd fruit syrup. Chitosan solution concentrations were KT1 (0%), KT2 (0.5%), KT3 (1.0%), KT4 (1.5%), and KT5 (2.0%). The observed variables in this study were organoleptic characteristics of color, aroma, and taste as well as physiochemical characteristics (pH, sucrose content, viscosity) and total microbes. Organoleptic assessment data were analyzed statistically using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results show that the addition of chitosan solution had a significant effect on the increase of color and aroma, but had no significant effect on the taste. The best wet gourd syrup was obtained in the KT2 formulation (addition of 0.5% chitosan solution) with average assessment scores of color, aroma, and taste reaching 3.63 (like), 4.50 (like), and 4.21 (like), respectively. The chemical analysis values of the best wet gourd syrup product show that it had 4.26 pH, 42.27% sucrose, 60.84 viscosity, and a total microbial of 8.00 log CFU. The results show that the wet gourd fruit syrup with the addition of chitosan solution was acceptable (preferred) by the panelists. The shelf life of the wet gourd fruit syrup was 3 days. Keywords: fruit syrup, wet gourd, chitosan. ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan pengaruh penambahan kitosan terhadap daya awet sirup buah kundur. Penelitian ini menggunakan rancangan acak lengkap (RAL) dengan menggunakan penambahan larutan kitosan dan sirup buah kundur. Larutan kitosan terdiri atas : KT1 (0%), KT2 (0,5%), KT3 (1,0%), KT4 (1,5%), KT5 (2,0%). Variabel pengamatan pada penelitian ini yaitu karakteristik organoleptik warna, aroma, rasa , karakteristik fisiokimia (pH, kadar sukrosa, viskositas) dan total mikroba). Data hasil penilaian organoleptik dianalisis secara statistik menggunakan analysis of varians (ANOVA). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penambahan larutan kitosan formulasi (0%, 0,5%, 1,0%, 1,5% dan 2,0%) berpengaruh nyata terhadap peningkatan penilaian organoleptik warna dan aroma, tetapi tidak berpengaruh nyata terhadap organoleptik rasa. Sirup kundur terpilih berdasarkan penilaian organoleptik terdapat pada formulasi KT2 (penambahan larutan kitosan sebanyak 0,5%) dengan skor penilaian terhadap karakteristik organoleptik warna 3,63 ( suka), aroma 4,50 (suka), rasa 4,21 (suka). Nilai analisi kimia dari produk sirup kundur terbaik meliputi: pH 4,26, kadar Sukrosa 42,27, viskositas 60,84 dan total mikroba 8,00 log CFU. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian, produk sirup buah kundur dengan penambahan larutan kitosan dapat diterima (disukai) oleh panelis, dan daya awet pada sirup buah kundur bertahan selama 3 hari. Kata kunci: sirup buah, Kundur, kitosan]]>
