The Effect of Consumption of Palm Sugar on Cardiovascular
Endurance and Lactic Acid
Hamidie Ronald Daniel Ray and Muhammad Naufal Abdulrahman
Faculty of Sport and Health Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Jln. Dr. Setiabudhi No. 299 Bandung, Indonesia
Keywords: Palm Sugar, Cardiovascular Endurance, lactic acid.
Abstract: This research begins from the perception of society that palm sugar can increase endurance so that body
cannot easily get fatigue. Therefore, the researcher is interested to know more deeply: 1) Is there any effect
of consumption of palm sugar to body endurance, and 2) Is there any effect of consumption of palm sugar to
lactic acid. To solve the problem, then all the researchers do a research based on the existing theories. This
research uses experimental method with Pretest-Posttest-only Control Design. The instruments used in this
study are a cooper test to measure durability and Accuntrend plus to measure lactic acid. From the result of
data processing, it is found that significance level for VO2max equal to p = 0,157. If it is compared, then it
will be obtained p> 0,05. Thus, it can be concluded that there is no significant difference of mean value of
VO2max on pre-test and post-test both in experimental group and control group, and for lactic acid obtained
a significant level of p = 0,036. If it is compared, then the result will be obtained p <0,05. Thus, it can be
concluded that there is a significant difference in mean values of lactic acid on pre-test and post-test either
experimental group or control group. Based on the results above, it can be concluded that giving palm sugar
can decelerate the emergence of lactic acid as the main cause of fatigue.
1 INTRODUCTION
Endurance is one component of physical condition.
Almost all sports require endurance, particularly for
sports with the level of body performance in a long
time. The better endurance results the better
performance of the game (Hettinga et al.). In the
world of sport, it is known as local endurance
(muscle) and general endurance (cardiovascular). The
ability of a person in using his muscles to work
continuously for a long time with a certain load
(Naclerio et al., 2009). The general endurance
(cardiovascular) is a person's ability to constantly use
his heart, lung and circulatory system involving the
contraction of a number of high-intensity muscles for
a long time (Hettinga et al.). Cardiovascular
endurance has an important role to the performance
of body, because this endurance collects oxygen in
the lungs and will supply it to the muscles through
blood circulation to be used as energy fuel.
The longer we do activities with high intensity
and a long duration it will cause someone to get
fatigue. The formation of lactic acid is the result of
high-intensity exercise activity and prolonged
exercise (Gass et al., 1981). In high intensity physical
workouts the muscles contract in anaerobic state, so
the provision of ATP occurs through anaerobic
glycolysis process. This results in increased levels of
both lactate and muscle. But trained muscles can still
contract well at a high enough lactic acid
concentration. As soon as it gets oxygen, lactic acid
is converted back into pyruvic acid and then
converted into energy, carbodioksidasi and water.
Thus, lactic acid is an energy source that can be used
as pyruvate, pyruvate enters the kreb's cycle and the
electron transport system to produce energy, H2O,
and CO2 (Baker et al., 2010, Sahlin, 1986). At first
lactic acid is regarded as a residual substance. Lactic
acid produced then accumulates in the muscle and is
suspected of causing fatigue during exercise and
muscle cramps after exercise. Now with the latest
results, lactic acid is not an "enemy" of muscle. Lactic
acid is an important energy ingredient during long-
lasting sports. This is because lactic acid formed by
muscle cells can be used by other muscle cells to form
energy (Chatham, 2002). When doing the exercise,
the demand of oxygen exceeds supply and it causes
an anaerobic metabolism that produces lactic acid.
Then, lactic acid is absorbed by muscle cells to make
490
Ray, H. and Abdulrahman, M.
The Effect of Consumption of Palm Sugar on Cardiovascular Endurance and Lactic Acid.
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sports Science, Health and Physical Education (ICSSHPE 2017) - Volume 1, pages 490-493
ISBN: 978-989-758-317-9
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

fuel. But if too much accumulate in the muscle it will
cause fatigue that causes muscle cramps, even
temporary or permanent injury (Sahlin, 1986).
Public perception, particularly in Indonesia if you
want to have a strong endurance during the activity
with a long duration and not to get fatigue easily,
previously had to consume palm sugar. Based on the
societal perception of palm sugar, thus it is important
for athletes to consume palm sugar, with prediction
that athletes can increase their endurance and not
easily get fatigue. Here, palm sugar is a simple
carbohydrate. Simple carbohydrates are
carbohydrates consisting of one or two sugar
molecules. Simple carbohydrates are a source of
energy that is quickly processed by the body. To
prove the energy contribution of palm sugar, the
researcher gives the palm sugar at the time of test.
Based on the description above, the researchers are
interested to choose the research title "The Influence
of Palm Sugar Consumption on Cardiovascular
Endurance and Lactic Acid".
2 METHODS
2.1 Population
Population is a generalization area consisting of:
objects/subjects that have certain qualities and
characteristics set by the researchers to be studied and
then drawn conclusions (Sugiono, 2010, p. 80). Based
on the research topic, the population of this study is
using soccer player of Student Activity Unit of
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia from batch 2016.
2.2 Sample
The sample is part of the number and characteristics
possessed by that population (Sugiono, 2010, p.81).
The sampling technique used in this study is random
sampling with the number of samples are 10 active
soccer players of Student Activity Unit of Universitas
Pendidikan Indonesia from batch 2016.
2.3 Cooper Test
Cooper's test was developed by Dr. Keneth Cooper
with United States’ Air Force army in 1968. This test
is designed to be easy, cheap and mass. Equipment:
Running Track 400 meter, stopwatch, and
mileometer.
 Runners do a warming up for 10-15 minutes,
 Then the runner ran for 12 minutes and
recorded the distance he took.
 When finished running, runners do a cooling
down.
Then the results of the runners for 12 minutes are
matched with the Cooper Test classification table.
The commonly used formula for measuring VO2max:
VO2max = Miliage (meters) - 504.9) / 44.73.
After obtaining the pre-test data, the samples of
aerobic exercise are continuous running for both the
control group and the treatment group. Aerobic
exercise is done with a frequency of 3x (three times)
a week and duration for 50 minutes each time to run
with the training zone gets an average of 90% of the
maximum pulse. Aerobic exercise is done for 3
weeks. The palm sugar given is 50 gr per day for 3
weeks.
3 RESULTS
Table 1: Characteristic of sample.
Variable
Mean ± SD
Ages
20,2 ± 0,632
Height (cm)
169,6 ± 4,402
Body weight (kg)
61,2 ± 7,330
Table 2: Result of VO
2
max.
Groups
VO
2
max (ml/kg-BW/min)
Pre-test
(Mean ± SD)
Post –test
(Mean ± SD)
Control
46,04 ± 3,3
47,7 ± 2,2
Brown sugar
39,42 ± 4,9
43,42 ± 5,1 *
*Significant different with pre-test (P < 0.05).
The results in Table 2 show that VO2 max post-test
in the palm sugar group experienced a significant
increase compared to pre-test and this was not found
in the control group.
Figure 1: % Increases of VO
2
max after treatment.
The Effect of Consumption of Palm Sugar on Cardiovascular Endurance and Lactic Acid
491

In Figure 1 it was shown that the percentage
increase of VO2 max in the control group increased
by 1.66% and the palm sugar group increased by
4.2%. It was further demonstrated that the increase in
VO2 max in the group given a significant palm sugar
was different from the increase in VO2 max in the
control group.
Table 3: Result of blood lactate.
Groups
Blood Lactate (mMol/L)
Pre-test
(Mean ± SD)
Post –test
(Mean ± SD)
Control
10,8 ± 2,0
9,2 ± 1,6
Brown sugar
11,52 ± 1,7
7 ± 1,3
Table 3 shows the results of blood lactic acid
levels before and after treatment. The results showed
that blood lactic acid levels in the palm sugar group
decreased significantly against the post-test and this
did not occur in the control group.
4 DISCUSSION
Ergogenic aids are now widely used in sports and
indeed some previous studies have shown that the use
of ergogenic aids can improve the performance of
athletes or other sports actors. Your previous research
shows that ergogenic aids containing turmeric can
improve athlete performance through its ability to
increase VO2 max and lactate threshold (Ali and Ray,
2017, Hamidie and Masuda, 2017). Several previous
studies have shown that palm sugar contains
carbohydrates (Pontoh, 2015). This content is indeed
very useful for sports actors whose mostly the energy
source for sports activities is derived from
carbohydrates. Our results show that in the group
given palm sugar as much as 50 grams for 3 weeks
increased VO2 max by 4.2% (Figure 3.1). This can
occur due to the fulfilment of carbohydrates
(carbohydrate loading) is more maximal than without
palm sugar. With a better carbohydrate loading then
the muscle has a glycogen content as a larger energy
source (Burke et al., 2011). This is why in a group
that gets palm sugar can do a good exercise because
it gets a larger energy source that impacts to a higher
increase in VO2 max.
Previous research has also shown that palm sugar
contains high antioxidant substances (Adewale et al.,
2016). A person will produce high oxidant/free
radicals during high-intensity exercise or long
duration due to the emergence of Reactive Oxygen
Species (ROS) and Reactive Nitrogen Species (RNS).
ROS and RNS will cause complaints such as muscle
damage, fatigue and deceleration of recovery that
harms the sport (Merry and Ristow, 2016). With the
high antioxidant effect of palm sugar then the
elimination of oxidants that are formed at the time of
the sport becomes faster so it is advantageous for the
sport actors. Indeed, our current study also showed
that blood lactic acid formed in the group receiving
palm sugar decreased from 4.52 mMol/L (pre-test
versus post-test) than in the control group decreased
by 1.6 mMol / l (pre -test versus post-test). Based on
the above explanation, the researchers speculate that
cardiovascular endurance enhancement and
decreased blood lactate acid occur because of the
ability of the palm sugar to supply a better energy
source that supports better oxygen supply to eliminate
lactic acid and also the ability of palm sugar as an
antioxidant so that it can eliminate free radicals (ROS
and RNS) that form in muscles at the time of sport
becomes faster.
5 CONCLUSIONS
Based on the results of the research above, it can be
concluded that the supply of palm sugar has the
ability to increase cardiovascular endurance and
decrease lactate acid levels during exercise.
REFERENCES
Adewale, O. F., Isaac, O., Tunmise, M. T., Omoniyi, O.
2016. Palm Oil And Ground Nut Oil Supplementation
Effects On Blood Glucose And Antioxidant Status In
Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Rats. Pak J Pharm Sci, 29,
83-7.
Ali, R. H., Ray, H. R. D. 2017. The Effect Of Turmeric
Consumption To Vo 2 Max And Lactate Threshold. Iop
Conference Series: Materials Science And
Engineering, 180, 012175.
Baker, J. S., Mccormick, M. C., Robergs, R. A. 2010.
Interaction Among Skeletal Muscle Metabolic Energy
Systems During Intense Exercise. Journal Of Nutrition
And Metabolism, 2010, 905612.
Burke, L. M., Hawley, J. A., Wong, S. H. S., Jeukendrup,
A. E. 2011. Carbohydrates For Training And
Competition. Journal Of Sports Sciences, 29, S17-S27.
Chatham, J. C. 2002. Lactate – The Forgotten Fuel! J
Physiol, 542, 333-333.
Gass, G. C., Rogers, S., Mitchell, R. 1981. Blood Lactate
Concentration Following Maximum Exercise In
Trained Subjects. British Journal Of Sports Medicine,
15, 172-176.
ICSSHPE 2017 - 2nd International Conference on Sports Science, Health and Physical Education
492

Hamidie, R. D. R., Masuda, K. 2017. Curcumin Potentially
To Increase Athlete Performance Through Regulated
Mitochondrial Biogenesis. Iop Conference Series:
Materials Science And Engineering, 180, 012202.
Hettinga, F. J., Renfree, A., Pageaux, B., Jones, H. S.,
Corbett, J., Micklewright, D., Mauger, A. R. Editorial:
Regulation Of Endurance Performance: New
Frontiers, Front Physiol. 2017 Sep 21;8:727. Doi:
10.3389/Fphys.2017.00727. Ecollection 2017.
Merry, T. L., Ristow, M. 2016. Do Antioxidant
Supplements Interfere With Skeletal Muscle
Adaptation To Exercise Training? J Physiol, 594, 5135-
47.
Naclerio, F. J., Colado, J. C., Rhea, M. R., Bunker, D.,
Triplett, N. T. 2009. The Influence Of Strength And
Power On Muscle Endurance Test Performance. J
Strength Cond Res, 23, 1482-8.
Pontoh, J. 2015. Some Aspects Of Carbohydrate Physiology
In Sugar Palm (Arenga Pinnatamerr.).
Sahlin, K. 1986. Muscle Fatigue And Lactic Acid
Accumulation. Acta Physiol Scand Suppl, 556, 83-91.
The Effect of Consumption of Palm Sugar on Cardiovascular Endurance and Lactic Acid
493