Arang aktif merupakan adsorben multifungsi, dapat menyerap spesi yang bermuatan positif seperti ion logam, molekul netral seperti I2 dan bermuatan negatif. Tujuan penelitian adalah membuat arang aktif dari limbah bambu yang berguna meminimalisir kandungan  logam timbal (II) dan krom (III) dari perairan. Pembuatan arang dilakukan secara konvensional menggunakan tong kedap udara dengan pemanasan selama 12 jam. Aktivasi arang dilakukan menggunakan tanur pada suhu 650oC selama 4 jam. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa aktivasi termal  menghasilkan arang aktif lebih baik dibandingkan tanpa aktivasi.  Arang yang diaktivasi dan tanpa aktivasi memenuhi SNI 06-3730-1995 tentang arang aktif teknis. Luas permukaan sebesar 494,8178 m2/g, keasaman permukaan sebesar 4,4426 mmol/g, dan kebasaan permukaan sebesar 3,4467 mmol/g. Kondisi optimum adsorpsi terhadap ion logam yaitu waktu kontak 24 jam dan pH 8 untuk Pb(II) dan pH 6 untuk Cr(III). Kapasitas adsorpsi arang aktif sebesar 3,9800 mg/g untuk ion Pb(II) dan 3,9766 mg/g untuk ion Cr(III).

This study examined the potential of levan from the halophilic bacterium Bacillus licheniformis BK1 as a nanoparticle system for protein immobilization. Levan produced by B. licheniformis BK1 was obtained by incubating the bacterium in the optimized Belghith medium, containing 15% (w/v) sucrose, 7.5% (w/v) NaCl and pH 8, in a rotary shaker at 150 rpm for 16 h, at 40 °C. The structure of the levan produced was verified by FTIR and NMR. It appeared that the levan had the same structure as that from Erwinia herbicola. The obtained levan was then used as a nanoparticle system to immobilize BSA and lysozyme proteins. The BSA-nanoparticle had a non-spherical shape with a surface charge of about -4.72 mV and a size distribution in the range of 83–298 nm. In contrast, the lysozyme-nanoparticle exhibited more spherical shapes with a surface charge of -2.57 mV and 206–285 nm size distribution. The efficiency of immobilization was about 74.26% and 81.77% for BSA and lysozyme, respectively. The study thus shows that levan produced by B. licheniformis BK1 can be used as a nanoparticle system for protein immobilization.

ABSTRAKPandemi COVID-19 adalah salah satu masalah utama yang sedang dihadapi masyarakat karena memberikan dampak yang besar di bidang kesehatan maupun perekonomian. Dalam mengatasi infeksi COVID-19, masyarakat dianjurkan untuk menerapkan protokol kesehatan seperti memakai masker, menjaga jarak, cuci tangan dengan sabun, serta menjaga imunitas tubuh melalui olahraga dan konsumsi makanan atau minuman yang baik untuk kesehatan. Selain jamu, probiotik dapat menjadi pilihan yang tepat untuk dikonsumsi selama pandemi COVID-19. Probiotik adalah kultur mikroba hidup yang baik untuk sistem pencernaan dan diketahui berperan dalam mempengaruhi sistem imun tubuh. Probiotik dapat diperoleh dari produk-produk fermentasi. Kegiatan pengabdian masyarakat ini bertujuan memberikan informasi kepaa masyarakat tentang penggunaan probiotik yang tepat untuk peningkatan imunitas tubuh di era pandemi COVID-19. Kegiatan ini dilakukan melalui sosialisasi di Desa Duwet Kabupaten Malang. Keberhasilan pengabdian masyarakat ditentukan dari penilaian kuesioner yang diberikan ke peserta. Hasil evaluasi kegiatan menunjukkan bahwa pengabdian kepada masyarakat ini berlangsung dengan baik dan dapat mencapai tujuan yang diharapkan, yaitu sosialisasi dapat meningkatan pemahaman dan kesadaran peserta untuk mengkonsumsi probiotik.Kata Kunci: Probiotik, Imune system, COVID-19 ABSTRACTPandemic COVID-19 is one of the main problems faced by society because it causes a huge impact in the field of health and economy. In overcoming the infection of COVID-19, people are encouraged to apply health protocols such as wearing mask, keeping a distance, washing hands with soap, as well as maintaining the immunity of the body through exercise and the consumption of foods or drinks that are good for health. In addition to herbs, probiotics can be the right choice to be consumed during the pandemic COVID-19. Probiotics are cultures of live microbes that are good for digestive system and have been found to influence the immune system. Probiotics can be obtained from the fermentation products. The objective of this community service was to provide information for the public about the proper use of probiotic to increase the body's immunity in the era of pandemic COVID-19. This activity was carried out by socialization in Duwet Village Malang Regency. The success of the community is determined based on the assessment of participants’questionnaire. The results showed that this community service was going well and achieved the expected goal, socialization increased participants’ awareness and understanding of probiotic consumption. Keywords: Probiotics, Immune system, COVID-19

The global gout prevalence was increased rapidly in recent decades, especially in some developing countries. One of the most commonly used to treat gout is allopurinol, that act as xanthine oxidase inhibitor. However, consuming allopurinol in the long term can cause some unwanted side effects. On the other hand, many kinds of flavonoid compounds identified in some Indonesian grown plants have bioactivity as xanthine oxidase inhibitor. One of that is sugar apple (Annona squamosa L. fruit). Therefore, the aims of this study were to isolate the flavonoid compounds in ethanol extracts of sugar apple and to test the activity as xanthine oxidase inhibitor relative to allopurinol. The study has been carried out in some phases: (1) flavonoid extraction using 70% ethanol, (2) purification of the flavonoid isolate using n-hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate as solvent, (3) flavonoids identification and (4) inhibitory activity test against xanthine oxidase, relative to allopurinol using spectroscopy methods. The results have shown that: from 275 grams of sugar apple fruit can be isolated 6 grams of flavonoid with the purity of 95.26% (according to HPLC peak) and has xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity was higher (83%) than allopurinol (48%) at the same concentration (100 ppm). Moreover, based on in silico study, there was also confirmed that a flavonoid compound found in Annona squamosa L., has higher binding affinity to the xanthine oxidase than allopurinol. This result thus indicated the flavonoid isolated from Annona squamosa L. might be a promising herbal drug for gout treatment.

Protein merupakan senyawa yang banyak terkandung di dalam limbah cair tahu. Kadar protein yang tinggi dapat menyebabkan kenaikan BOD dan COD limbah cair tahu di lingkungan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kemampuan kitosan dalam mengadsorpsi protein limbah cair tahu dari Desa Tinalan, Kota Kediri. Kadar protein awal limbah cair tahu yang teramati menggunakan spektrofotometer UV-Vis yaitu 0,0904%. Pada saat adsorpsi, massa kitosan yang digunakan yaitu 0,25 g; 0,5 g; 0,75 g dan 1 g dengan kode sampel masing-masing kitosan-LCT1; kitosan-LCT2; kitosan-LCT3 dan kitosan-LCT4. Kitosan ditambahkan ke limbah cair tahu dan diaduk selama 8 jam. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa massa kitosan yang optimum dalam mengadsorpsi protein limbah cair tahu adalah 0,25 g (kitosan-LCT1). Hal ini ditunjukkan dengan penurunan kadar protein limbah cair tahu hingga 37,78%. Hasil SEM menegaskan bahwa telah terjadi perubahan morfologi permukaan pada kitosan-LCT1 yang berbentuk pipih dan guratan putih. Hal ini menunjukkan telah terjadi proses adsorpsi antara kitosan dan protein. Selain itu, adsorpsi juga menyebabkan peningkatan pH limbah cair tahu mencapai 6 – 7.Kata kunci : Protein, Limbah Cair Tahu, Kitosan, Adsorpsi