The Use of the Lemon Pepper as a New Flavoring in Culinary

Preparation

Erika Pardede, Ferlando J. Simanungkalit and Johan B. Manik

Department of Tech. of Agricultural Products, University of HKBP Nommensen, Medan, Indonesia

Keywords: Lemon Pepper, Andaliman, Flavouring, Cuisine.

Abstract: Lemon pepper (Zanthoxylum acanthopodium DC.) is a perennial plant of Rutaceae family belong to endemic

plant in North Sumatera region, which fruit has been traditionally used as flavouring agent for traditional

cuisine. Its berry fruits are known to be excellent ingredient, for they give an extraordinary flavour as results

of typical fragrance which comes after crushing the fruits, and a spicy bitter and burning taste when eaten.

Lemon pepper still has a vast unexploited potential in creative cooking. In this work, we reviewed the

vernacular names, medicinal properties and traditional uses of lemon pepper and we explored some alternative

culinary uses for this aromatic plants.

1 INTRODUCTION

Lemon pepper (Zanthoxylum acanthopodium DC.) a

medicinal and aromatic fruit from the family of

Rutaceae is a famous spice to native Toba-Batak

population. Local name of this plant is andaliman.

These perennial plants are growing in tropical and

temperate regions and commonly found throughout

Central, South, Southeast and East Asia (Gupta and

Mandi, 2013). In Indonesia, Zanthoxylum

acanthopodium DC. is only found and naturally

grown in the Toba forest at altitudes of above 1500 m

in North Sumatera province.

The following is the taxonomy of lemon pepper:

Kingdom : Plantae

Division : Spermatophyta

Sub-division : Angiospermae

Class : Dicotyledoneae

Sub-class : Rosidae

Order : Sapindales

Family : Rutaceae

Genus : Zanthoxylum

Species : acanthopodium – DC

Zanthoxylum acanthopodium DC.

is a perennial thorny

shrub or small tree with dense foliage and prickly

trunk and branches bearing edible fruits and leaves

with a strong and pungent taste resembling the

flavour of lemon, anise or mint. Young fruits are

rounded and green, and the seed inside are shining

black. Its fruits, seeds and leaves are edible.

Figure 1: Zanthoxylum acanthopodium DC.

Like many other plants of Zanthoxylum genus,

which consist about 250 species spreading all over the

world, the species of acanthopodium or lemon pepper

has been traditionally used as medicine. By local

inhabitants of Himalayan region lemon pepper have

been traditionally used for treatment in the case of

gastritis (Yonzone and Rai, 2016).

Fruits of most Zanthoxylum are rich in oil

containing large amounts of alkaloids and saturated

fatty acids. Majumder et al (2014) found at least 21

compounds in lemon pepper oil. They found that

predominant essential oil composed by eucalyptol,

limonin, carene and methyl-cinnamate, which

demonstrated promising antibacterial activity against

Staphylococcus aureus. Later, Julistiono et al. (2018)

reported that lemon pepper possesses

Pardede, E., Simanungkalit, F. and Manik, J.

The Use of the Lemon Pepper as a New Flavoring in Culinary Preparation.

DOI: 10.5220/0010514100003108

In Proceedings of the 6th Food Ingredient Asia Conference (6th FiAC 2020) - Food Science, Nutrition and Health, pages 59-63

ISBN: 978-989-758-540-1

antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium

smegmatis. Meanwhile, Yanti et al. (2011) found that

the extract of dried fruit by using ethanol possessed

anti-inflammatory activity after showing a significant

inhibition of selected inflammatory biomarker.

Lemon pepper fruits are known to be an excellent

ingredient owing to their extraordinary flavour as

results of typical fragrance which comes after

crushing the fruits, and a spicy bitter, stinging and

burning taste when eaten. The use of aromatic plant

in food preparation as a spice due to their aroma

and/or taste attributable to chemical compounds.

Moektiwardoyo et al. (2014) identified 29

compounds in the essential oil of lemon pepper’s

fruits. Amongst them, geranyl acetate, β-citroneol,

nerol, limonene, geraniol, caryophyllene, citronellyl

acetate and α-pinene were the predominant

compound of the fruit oil, which contributed to the

aroma of lemon pepper.

Since classical times, the

Zanthoxylum

acanthopodium DC. plant or andaliman has existing

culinary uses in Batak community lived in Toba

region. It is traditionally used in various traditional

cuisine such as naniarsik, naniura, napinadar and

namargota. Apart from its contribution to the flavour,

in food system, compounds in essential oils of the

fruits of lemon pepper possessing notable antioxidant

activity. Volatile oil extracted from fruits contains

mainly limonene, citronellol, geraniol and β-

myrcene, together with other minor components.

Those essential oils had antioxidant activity by acting

as a radical scavenger (Cahyana and Mardiana, 2003).

Similarly, Suryanto et al. (2004) extracted the

phenolic compound from the fruits by using three

different solvents namely hexane, acetone, and

ethanol, and they found all three types of fruit extract

had shown antioxidant activities.

Despite the long-standing use of these lemon

pepper, the lemon pepper still has potential in creative

cooking. Until now, the use of lemon pepper in food

has been limited to fresh fruit. Meanwhile, dried spice

of lemon pepper has potentially big market share

since the fresh harvested fruits are very susceptible to

fungi and have a short storage life.

The present study was conducted to promote

research aiming at the development of lemon pepper

in culinary preparation that is possible to realize. In

this study, they are represented by example of lemon

pepper as a flavouring agent for noodle and meatballs.

Initial stage of this study was to investigated drying

temperature to produce dried lemon pepper powder.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Fruit Materials

The fruit materials used in this study were purchased

at a local market, and transported directly to the

Laboratory of Agriculture Products Technology,

University of HKBP Nommensen, Medan where this

study was conducted. Lemon pepper fruits were

sorted manually as to separate fruits from dirt, leaves

and stems, washed and drained.

Figure 2: Mature fruit of Z. acanthopodium DC.

2.2 Drying Process

Drying of fruits was carried out through the use of hot

air at four levels of temperature (40, 50, 60 and 70

C).

Fresh fruits were dried to constant weight in an oven.

The dehydrated product was grounded until a powder

was obtained by using sieve of 80 mesh. The spice

was packed in glass jars closed with airtight cap and

stored in refrigerator without light, and subjected to

analysis. The moisture content was determined

according to AOAC method by using hot air oven at

a temperature of 105

C. Sensorics evaluation on the

intensity of aroma and taste was carried out involving

10 trained panellists selected from students in the

department of Agriculture Products Technology.

2.3 Cuisine Application

To expand the use of lemon pepper/andaliman, we

began to investigate the possible use of the ground

dried fruit (powder) of lemon pepper as flavouring

agent to noodle and meat ball. The lemon pepper

powder was produced according to the best drying

method investigated in 2.2 above.

2.3.1 Lemon Pepper-flavoured Noodle

To prepare noodle at laboratory condition, the

mixture of 250g wheat flour, 5g

6th FiAC 2020 - The Food Ingredient Asia Conference (FiAC)

carboxymethylcellulose, 1 egg and water was

combining manually to form dough. The dough was

then sheeting, combining of sheets, resting, rolling

and cutting, followed by boiling and drained. Three

levels of lemon pepper powder, 0,5%, 1% and 1,5%

(flour based) were applied for investigation.

The sensory assessment includes tasting of lemon

pepper-flavoured noodle for the intensity of the taste

and aroma, followed by overall acceptance using the

structure 5-point hedonic scale. Evaluation session

was held at room temperature and normal lighting

condition involving 12 trained panelists.

2.3.2 Lemon Pepper-flavoured Meatball

To prepare meatballs at laboratory condition, to 1 kg

chicken meat, were added tapioca flour 500g, garlic

50g, salt 20g and water 200 g. Lemon pepper was

firstly added during the mincing of meat. Minced

meat, flour, salt and garlic were mixed to form batter.

The batter was then formed into small ball-shapes in

size of 2-2,5 cm diameter, then cooked in boiling

water until the meatballs were floated. The meatballs

were then drained, cooled and packed before use.

Lemon pepper powder in the amount of 1, 2, 3, 4 and

5% of the total mass formulation were applied for

investigation.

The meatballs were subjected to sensory

evaluation for colour, aroma, taste, toughness and

overall acceptability using hedonic scale rating 1-7 to

assess the differences. Sensory acceptability of lemon

pepper-flavoured meatballs was conducted using the

structure 7-point hedonic scale. Thirty untrained

assessors comprising student of Faculty of

Agriculture participated in this study.

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Drying Temperature

Drying temperature significantly affected water

content, aroma and taste of the lemon pepper powder.

The initial average moisture content of fresh lemon

pepper was 67-70%. The moisture content of dried

products was 15.20%, 13.48%, 12.54% and 14.20%

when drying process took place at a temperature of

40, 50, 60 and 70

C respectively. The higher drying

temperature led to a significantly lower water content.

However, it was not the case at drying temperature of

C, for no significant different between moisture

content of lemon pepper powder when drying at 40

and 70

C. It is possibly the case hardening took place

at the level of temperature above 60

C and led to a

higher amount of water retained in the fruit during

drying time.

The dried product was characterized by a brown

colour. The darkening of the colour of dried sample

could be due to high temperature during dehydration

in addition to black colour of the lemon pepper seeds.

Figure 3: Lemon pepper powder.

Lemon pepper powder retained the intensity of its

native aromas after the drying process. According to

Prusinowska and Smigielski (2015) drying method

affect the losses of essential oils and antioxidant in

herbs and spices, and they found that freeze drying

more essential oil of dried herbs in comparing to sun

drying and oven hot air drying. Our experiment

indicates that the range of temperature 40–70

C by

using a hot air oven could preserve the native

compounds responsible for taste and aroma.

However, the intensity of aroma and taste were

decreased as drying temperature was increased and a

note of woody aroma was appeared in the powder.

Based on sensory evaluation, we decided to apply

drying temperature of 60

C to produce lemon pepper

powder used as flavouring for subsequent application

on food. This is in accordance with the finding of

Napitupulu et al. (2020) that oven drying at 54

C for

8h was the most appropriate processing method to

preserve the flavour of lemon pepper.

3.2 Cuisine Application

3.2.1 Lemon Pepper-flavoured Noodle

Noodle is one of the famous foods in Indonesia and

across Asian countries. Recently, many variations of

noodle have been developed by applying substance

that bear compound that provided functionalities.

Noodle flavoured with 0,5% lemon pepper had

only a slight taste and aroma of lemon pepper, and

leave almost no specific sensation of spicy bitter,

stinging and burning taste when eaten. Higher

concentration of lemon pepper led to a more

significant lemon pepper taste and aroma, but only at

The Use of the Lemon Pepper as a New Flavoring in Culinary Preparation

the level of 1,5% lemon pepper the natural taste

lemon pepper appeared significantly.

Hedonic rating scale showed a similar trend, as

the acceptance of panelists increase with the

increasing of lemon pepper. The noodle flavoured

with 1,5% of lemon pepper was rated as like

moderately, while lesser lemon pepper resulted in

lower liking scale. The group of panelists, which

dominated by Toba-Batak ethnic group who are

familiar with the taste and aroma of lemon pepper,

may affect the acceptance level. The result indicated

that level of lemon pepper could be possible to

increase to some level for further study.

Figure 4: Noodle flavoured with 0,5%, 1% and 1,5% lemon

pepper.

The application of lemon pepper powder,

however, highlighted the colouring effect on noodle.

The noodle was darker in comparable to normal light-

yellow noodle. Colour of noodle may also affect the

acceptance of panelists, and could play as limiting

factor for application of higher level of lemon pepper

on noodle.

3.2.2 Lemon Pepper-flavoured Meatball

Meatball, known as “bakso” in Indonesia, is a

popular traditional food. It can be easily found and

bought as a food street but also in restaurants. To give

variety in taste, this study tried to apply the lemon

pepper as flavouring to meatballs.

The sensory evaluation indicated that meatballs

flavoured with of 1% of lemon pepper were well

accepted. The panelists liked the colour, aroma, taste

and toughness of meatballs. However, increasing of

level of lemon pepper powder significantly reduce the

acceptance of panelists towards the all sensory

attributes tested. The colour of meatballs with 5%

lemon pepper was not acceptable. The presence of

granules of lemon pepper lead to a dull colour of

meatballs. Spicy, bitter, stinging and burning taste of

lemon pepper become more intense as the level

increase, and led to lower acceptability of meatballs.

As for the toughness of meatball, the higher

concentration of lemon pepper the easier the

meatballs to cut when chewed. It lowered the

acceptance toward the toughness. The overall

acceptance was in line with the trend of acceptability

toward each single sensory attribute.

Figure 5: Meatballs flavoured with 1% lemon pepper

powder.

Based on this hedonic test, we found that meat

balls accepted the most were the ones formulated with

1% lemon pepper powder.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The result demonstrated promising application of

lemon pepper as a flavouring agent applied to noodle

and meatballs. In order to produce lemon pepper

powder, drying fresh fruit of lemon pepper at 60

C is

suitable to preserve natural aroma and taste. The best

acceptance as flavouring was found at a level of 1.5%

lemon pepper for noodle and at a level of 1% for

meatball. Further studies are needed for exploring the

potential of lemon pepper as flavouring in more

varieties of food.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support

from the University of HKBP Nommensen, Medan.

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6th FiAC 2020 - The Food Ingredient Asia Conference (FiAC)

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The Use of the Lemon Pepper as a New Flavoring in Culinary Preparation