Vol.5 (2015) No. 3 ISSN: 2088-5334 Raw Materials Inventory and Fermentation Process in Lemea Industry the Traditional Food of Rejang Tribe Kurnia Harlina Dewi Department of Agroindustrial Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bengkulu, Indonesia E-mail: nia_unib@yahoo.com Abstract— The traditional food is a food that is processed from surrounding natural and treated hereditary, so it became one of the pillars of food tenacity. Lemea is a traditional food of Rejang tribe that has not been properly inventoried. The purpose of this study is an inventory and characterization of physical, chemical and organoleptic of Lemea from various small industries in the districts. Characterization of traditional food Lemea required as a basis for the agro-industry design of Lemea of Rejang traditional standardized food (raw materials and processes), so resulting in consistent product quality, hygienic and attractive so as to compete with other containers food products, as well as preserving traditional food. The research method used was a survey method, by interviewing a small industry regarding raw materials used and the fermentation process of Lemea. Results shows that the raw materials used are Mayan bamboo sprout (Kepahiyang and North Bengkulu District), Kepea bamboo sprout (South Lebong District) and all kinds of bamboo sprout in the Rejang Lebong District, depending on available bamboo sprouts. The fish used in Central Bengkulu and Kepahiyang District is Tilapia fish, South Lebong District (White fish), North Bengkulu (Mayung fish). The fermentation process classified on 2 groups, namely (1) fermentation with the addition of rice porridge as a source of glucose and (2) without the addition of fermented rice porridge as a source of glucose. Lemea from various sources have variations in color, aroma, acidity, integrality, turbidity and overall appearance of different. Keywords— Lemea; traditional food; bamboo sprout; Rejang tribe I. INTRODUCTION In efforts to achieve food tenacity is necessary to study not only on the availability of food, but is largely determined by the distribution and the ease in obtaining food. One of the potential food sources to be developed is traditional food which is processing has been done for generations by using specific local materials and easy to obtain, which is a comparative advantage. However, these food products have not been developed since many people have no idea the benefits of nutritional value of traditional foods, inconsistent quality, the less attractive form of packaging, use and less practical distribution as well as the short shelf life. This resulted in traditional foods become foreigner in their own, crushed by outside food products which is packaged attarctive with nutritional value information advertised excessively. In addition, traditional food is scarce because of the complexity in the making and only known by certain circles [10]. This tendency is feared will result in the loss of culinary riches, which is the nation’s wealth. As a province located in coastal areas, Bengkulu has a rich diversity of typical fish-based meals that can be developed. It makes a lot of fish used as raw material in typical food, especially in coastal communities. Reference [16] reported Bengkulu traditional food fish based, such as Pendap fish, Pais fish, Lemea fish, Bagar shark, fried Badar. Efforts to make the traditional foods as local knowledge in food tenacity pillar, has been studied in a sustainable manner from raw material modifications ([7], [8], [9]). Today, the advantages of traditional foods has been the in-depth study in many countries ([4], [5], [12], [13], [14], [15]). Bengkulu Province has the culture and customs which is characterized by three major tribes clump, namely Rejang tribe which centered in Rejang Lebong district, Serawai tribe centered in South Bengkulu district and Malay tribes centered in Bengkulu city. All three major tribes were generally occupy different areas. Mostly Rejang tribes inhabited the highlands or mountains, while Serawai and Malay tribes occupy low areas or coastal ([1], [3]). References [6] and [17] reported that Lemea, the traditional food Rejang tribe was found only in five districts. Each product "Lemea" of all counties using specific raw materials and fermentation [11]. So that the resulting product is also highly variable. 196