(THE UTILIZATION OF CORN SILK WASTE AS ANTI COLESTEROL CANDY)
Ketut Ghina, Khoirunnissa
Supervisor: Lailatul Rohmah, S.Pd
SMP KHADIJAH Surabaya, Jawa Timur/ Indonesia, lailatulrohmah16@yahoo.com
1. Introduction
In this era, more and more people are shifting
their lifestyle and diet. This causes Indonesian
encounters double malnutrition problem. In one
hand, there are a lot of cases of undernutrition, on
the other hand, there are also increasing number
of over nutrition problem, mainly in the big cities.
The number of obesity around the world keep
increasing each year. Sihadi and Djaiman (2005)
states that more than 300 million adults are obese.
Moreover, 280000 people died each year in
America because of obesity. In Jakarta 10 out of
100 people are obese. Obesity is one of major
cause of high level cholesterol in blood, whereas,
high level of cholesterol is one of the factor
triggering heart disease.
Cholesterol is a compound of the sterol type
found in most body tissues. Cholesterol and its
derivatives are important constituents of cell
membranes and precursors of other steroid
compounds, but a high proportion in the blood of
low-density lipoprotein (which transports
cholesterol to the tissues) is associated with an
increased risk of coronary heart disease.
According to WHO the normal level of
cholesterol for each person is 200 mg/Dl (2006).
Level of cholesterol that reach 260 mg/Dl can
increase the risk of heart disease up to three times.
The increasing level of cholesterol in the blood
can cause a dangerous accumulation of
cholesterol and other deposits on the walls of
arteries (atherosclerosis). These deposits
(plaques) can reduce blood flow through the
arteries, which can cause complications. Hence,
intervention is needed to reduce the cholesterol
level so that dangerous risk will not occur.
Many people believe that corn is beneficial for
reducing cholesterol level in blood. Corn is one
the source of carbohydrate which is rich with
fiber and it has many functions for medication.
Rosentrater (2005) stated that corn fiber contains
phytosterol which can reduce LDL in a human’s
body. Furthermore, other parts of the corn are
also beneficial for health. The corn silk contains
chemical substance which is useful for health.
One of the chemical substance in the corn silk is
betasitosterol which can cause the reduction of
cholesterol in blood (Duke, 2004). Corn silk has
been used for years as traditional medicine. Some
people from Gorontalo use corn silk to cure
diabetes, reduce cholesterol, gout, and kidney
stones. However, in other areas mainly Java, corn
silk is not used maximally, it is threatened as
waste of corn.
From the research it is expected that the use of
corn silk which is processed into candy can give
new alternative medicine which is unique and
simple for reducing cholesterol level in blood.
Based on that reason the researcher conducted
research on the utilization of corn silk as
cholesterol controller in the form of candy.
2. Research Method
This research used experimental method.
Corn silk were boiled and its extract was taken
then the extract was mixed with low calorie sugar.
The mixture was later tested to know whether it
is effective to decrease the cholesterol level. The
research was conducted in several steps, as
follow:
The corn silk preparation step
In the first step 500 grams of corn silk were
prepared, then the corn silks were boiled in the
water until the color of the water turn into
brownish similar to caramel.
The mixture of corn silk extract with low
calorie sugar (sorbitol)
150 ml of corn silk extract was taken and they
were mixed with sorbitol. With ratio of 40%
sorbitol and 60% corn silk extract. Next, the
mixture was boiled until it was cooked enough.
The mixture was put into mold. Let the mixture
in the mold for ten hours at the room temperature.
Testing step
Dried corn silk candy was tested to people who
has cholesterol level beyond 200 mg/Dl for two
weeks.
3. Results and Analysis
After the two-week treatment with the corn silk candy
to people with cholesterol level 239 mg/dL, the result
shows that this corn silk candy can decrease the
cholesterol level up to 38.1%. This shows that corn
silk that has been used as candy can be used to
control cholesterol without raising blood sugar
and is more practical in terms of consumption.

This result is supported by data in theory that corn

silk is a group of stigma, which is smooth, soft,
looks like threads or yellowish hair, whose
function is to trap pollen for pollination. The
length of corn silk can reach 30 cm or more and
has a rather sweet taste. In addition, corn silk also
can be used as a traditional medicine, as it can be
used both to launch urine and to reduce
cholesterol levels in the blood. Corn, especially
the corn hair, has few benefits for medication.
This occurs as corn silk contains the chemical
compounds which are fruitful for health.

One of the substances contained in corn silk is

beta sitosterol. The beta sitosterol substance is
assumed to have effects on reducing blood
cholesterol levels. There are studies that extract
phytochemical compounds from corn silk using
various solvents such as benzene, chloroform,
ethanol, ethyl acetate, methanol, and petroleum
ether. The results indicated positive results of
flavonoids, alkaloids, phenols, steroids,
glycosides, carbohydrates, terpenoids, and
tannins inside the corn silk. More than that, the
chemical constituents of corn silk also include
protein; carbohydrate; fiber; some vitamins such
as vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin K; essential oil;
mineral salts such as Na, Fe, Si, Zn, K, Ca, Mg
and P and also beta-sitosterol which is one of the
substances that can affect the blood cholesterol
levels.

4. Conclusion

Based on research, it is known that the

consumption of corn silk (Zea mays) shows a
very significant effect on decreasing levels of
total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL
cholesterol as well as increasing levels of HDL
cholesterol. Corn silk can be used as cholesterol
controller in the body because there is a substance
called beta-sitosterol.

5. References

[1] [WHO]. World Health Organization. 2006.

Guidelines for The Management of
Dyslipidaemia in Patients with Diabetes
Mellitus. Cairo (EG).
[2] Duke J. 2004. Phytochemical and
Ethnobotanical Databases.