Consumer Acceptance on Dried Kaffir Lime Leaves (Citrus hyxtrix) As Food Ingredient

C. hystrix or the kaffir lime primarily used for its leaves. The leaves are widely used as herbs that added into Asian dishes. It provides the aroma and also flavor. For the fruit, it almost has no juice but the zest and rind might be useful. The fruit also used as one of the traditional
medicinal purposes. In addition, mold is susceptible to growth when the food contains any kind of water or fluid. In order to preserve the food or to keep the food in a good condition the moisture content must always be in a low state so that the spoilage organisms cannot grow. Kaffir lime leaves undergo the drying method which is one of the oldest methods to identify the change in aroma by increasing the temperature and also the acceptance by the consumer. The drying method that being used is oven-drying which gives effect on the aroma of the kaffir lime leaves depending on the temperature applied, the percentage of moisture loss and aroma also will change. Even though most of the people more prefer fresh sample over the processed sample, 71% of the respondents are willing to purchase the dried sample
if available in the market. Not to mention that more than half of the respondents look forward to the dried sample that has a similar aroma to the fresh sample. Thus, for consumer preferences temperature selection is vital on the aroma change and also for future project in involving dried food ingredient as a product.