The Semarang State Polytechnic Community Service Team (Polines) consisting of Syahid ST, M. Eng, Dr. Eng Sidiq Syamsul Hidayat and Drs. Ari Santoso SST M.Eng held a community service activity in Sidomulyo Village, Adimulyo District, Kebumen Regency, Central Java.
This Community Service focuses on helping provide solutions to the Banana Sale Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the area, namely the problem of drying banana sales. The service team provided assistance with a temperature-controlled banana sale dryer. It can also monitor humidity when drying occurs. Drying is a problem for SMEs selling bananas, especially during the rainy season. Many sale bananas are not dry and overgrown with fungus and can become rotten if there is a rainy season.
This banana sale dryer is different from existing dryers, because this tool does not use a heater like the current dryer, but this dryer uses the principle of refrigeration or cooling such as air conditioning.” The advantage of the refrigeration type dryer is that it requires less electrical power and better results than a dryer using a heater," said Syahid, Head of the Polines Community Service Team.
The results obtained after being tested on partners showed satisfactory results. "The results obtained are very similar to the results of drying using sunlight, the level of dryness, color, smell and taste like the results of drying using sunlight," said Amir Tamyiz, Head of MSME Harum Manis Sidomulyo Village, Kebumen.
They hope that this dryer can be applied to other products such as rice and copra, considering that the area is a producer of rice and coconut.