458 Influence of Temperature and Sweating Duration on The Quality of Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia Andrews) Farida Kurniasari 1, , I Wayan Budiastra 1 , Dyah Wulandani 1 1 Department of Mechanical and Biosystem Engineering and Accredited A, IPB University, Bogor, INDONESIA. Article History: Received : 23 October 2024 Revised : 06 January 2024 Accepted : 17 January 2024 Keywords: Postharvest, Quality, Sweating, Vanilla, Vanillin. Corresponding Author:  faridakurniasari@apps.ipb.ac.id (Farida Kurniasari) ABSTRACT Indonesia has significant potential for vanilla production. However, in terms of quality, Indonesian dried vanilla still has a low standard, one of the factors being the suboptimal post-harvest technology, particularly in the sweating process. This research aims to determine the optimal temperature and sweating duration to achieve the best vanilla quality in accordance with the Indonesian National Standard (SNI). After the harvesting process, the vanilla pods were treated by soaking them in warm water at a temperature of 65°C for 3 minutes. After the vanilla pods were wilted, they were wrapped using a combination of a towel cloth-black cloth-burlap. They were then sweated in an incubator at 40°C with 70% RH and 45°C with 70% RH for 2, 4, and 6 days. The observed vanilla quality parameters include weight loss, color, hedonic tests (aroma and color), vanillin content based on the methods of SNI 01-0010-2002 and ash content based on the methods of AOAC. The result shows that the optimal temperature and duration for sweating in an incubator are 40°C and 4 days. 1. INTRODUCTION Vanilla comes from the seeds of the vanilla fruit, which originates from the vanilla plant (Vanilla planifolia Andrews) and belongs to the orchid family. These vanilla seeds have a rich, sweet flavor and a distinctive aroma (Yeh et al., 2021). Vanilla production in Indonesia reaches 2,306 tons per year, supplying 30.3% of the total global production (FAO, 2020). Although Indonesia is one of the leading vanilla producers, it ranks seventh in global vanilla exports, contributing approximately 2.63% to the total world vanilla exports (Kementerian Keuangan, 2023). However, UN Comtrade (2022) recorded a decline in vanilla export value of Indonesia, from US$ 90,578,913 in 2017 to US$ 69,609,691 in 2019. According to Fitriani (2023), Nnanyange (2023), Ravier et al. (2024), and Lee et al. (2024) the low quality of vanilla is caused by several factors, such as agroclimate, cultivation technology, harvesting, and post - harvest technology, particularly the suboptimal sweating process. Vanilla sweating is a crucial stage in developing the vanilla's unique aroma and flavor. The goal is to induce enzymatic reactions in the vanilla pods, leading to the formation of vanillin and causing the pods to change color to brown and produce oil. A common method used by farmers in the vanilla postharvest process involves wilting the vanilla pods by soaking them in warm water, followed by sweating by placing the soaked vanilla in a styrofoam box wrapped in black cloth for 48 hours. Several studies have been conducted related to the vanilla sweating process, such as Fitriani (2023) conducted a sweating process using a combination of towel, black cloth, and burlap for 48 hours, which resulted in a vanillin content of 0.501%. Meanwhile, after drying with Greenhouse Effect (GHE) Solar Dryer combined with an additional four nights of sweating, the vanillin content increased to 1.377%. In contrast, Reri's (2018) study, where vanilla pods weighing >15 grams were sweated using a combination of black cotton fabric, black Vol. 14, No. 2 (2025): 458 - 466 http://dx.doi.org/10.23960/jtep-l.v14i2.458-466