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Cilembu sweet potato, a readily processed potato, is a sweet potato which has been stored for 5-7 days after harvested. The characteristic of processed cilembu sweet potato in-oven is that it feels more limp (not stiff) when in crooked-bent , shrink wieght as well as slightly wrinkles skin.
Cilembu sweet potato is commonly processed by in-oven for approximately 30-90 minutes (depending on the size of the sweet potato), until it become soft and pulled out with a sweet and sticky liquid sugar of honey. There is honey liquid only found on cilembu sweet potato. This is what became cilembu sweet potato idiosyncrasy compared with the other sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes is very sweet and fluffier, different with ordinary sweet potatoes. Therefore, Cilembu sweet potato also called Honey sweet potatoes. After being in-oven sweet potato will hold up to 2-3 days on normal temperatures. For more durability, it can be stored into the refrigerators and re-warmed for further consumable. The sweet taste contains source of energy for people who consume it.
Sweet potato is not suitable to be fried, because the high sugar content makes this sweet potato very easy to become “sandbar”. It is also not suitable for boil, because the aroma of the "honey" will diminish, or even disappear. In general, Cilembu sweet potato products are traded in the form of roasted sweet potatoes besides processed in the form of chips, tape, lunkhead, keremes, jams, sauces, flour, various cakes, noodles, and syrup. Cilembu sweet potato have high economic value because the taste is typical, sweet like honey and sticky, chewy meat structure and attractive, so it is very favorable by farm business and consumers.
The best way of cilembu sweet potato storage in order to maintain shelf life and sweetness are as follows :
1. Store in open and dry room open, and use pedestal cardboard or sack so sweet potato not touching the floor.
2. Done in sand or ash in the following way :
• Wind-aired sweet potato freshly harvested in a place with dry floor for 2-3 days .
• Prepare the storage in the form of special room or warehouse with dry and good air circulation.
• Stack sweet potato on the warehouse floor, then back-filled with dry sand or ash as thick as 20-30 cm up to all surfaces of sweet potato. This way of storage can maintain shelf life of sweet sweet potato up to 5 months. Sweet potatoes using well storage process will usually produce a sweet potato which taste sweet and yummy when compared with freshly harvested sweet potato.
• Storage can also be performed on shelves or avoid storage of tubers on the floor directly or in a bamboo basket with pedestal, with a form of ash or dry sand and sweet potato storage on bamboo racks which placed near the kitchen.
In Japan, Cilembu sweet potato have been utilized as a traditional foodstuffs, cosmetic raw materials and typical Japanese drinks “ Shake “. Japanese industry assess Cilembu sweet potato, which is very nice to be used as cosmetic raw materials and refreshments.
Specifications of Cilembu sweet potato :
1. Age of harvest 5 - 6 Month.
2. Fresh and Clean.
3. Contains : Energy, Carbohydrat, Protein, Fat, Vit.A, Calcium, Vit.B1, Vit.B2, Vit.C.
4. Skin Color: Cream (Yellow whitish).
5. Fill Color ( part in ) : Yellow.
6. Fill : Solid and Soft .
7. Flavors Very Sweet .
8. Shapes : Round and Long in a state intact ; not a broken ; not split in ; not torn.
9. Clean of dirt.
10. The former of the roots already cut off (clean).
