Abstract
One of the main by-products in cocoa industry is the cocoa bean shell (CBS), which represents approximately 12–20% of the bean. This product has been suggested as a food ingredient because of its aroma and high dietary fiber and polyphenol contents. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the effects of the CBS particle size and extraction methods on the chemical composition and consumer acceptance of a functional beverage, in order to find the best combination of technological parameters and health benefits. Five particle sizes of CBS powder and six home techniques were used for beverage preparation. The influence of these factors on the physico-chemical characteristics, methylxanthine and polyphenolic contents, antioxidant and antidiabetic properties, and consumer acceptance was evaluated. Total phenolic content values up to 1803.83 mg GAE/L were obtained for the beverages. Phenolic compounds and methylxanthines were identified and quantified by HPLC-PDA. These compounds may be related to the high antioxidant capacity (up to 7.29 mmol TE/L) and antidiabetic properties (up to 52.0% of α-glucosidase inhibition) observed. Furthermore, the consumer acceptance results indicated that CBS may represent an interesting ingredient for new functional beverages with potential health benefits, reducing the environmental and economic impact of by-product disposal.
Highlights
According to the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), each year, more than 4000 tons of cocoa beans are processed and consumed worldwide [1]
Yields ranged from 72.0% to 93.3% when grinding degree (GD) above 500 μm were used, and a notable substantial decrease in the recovery percentage was observed with a reduction in the GD, thereby leading to such values as 29.6% for the beverage prepared with the Moka and GD5
Even if the caffeic acid was present at lower concentrations than protocatechuic acid, in the cocoa bean shell (CBS) beverages it showed higher levels than those found in chocolate 100% cocoa made from Sao Tome cocoa beans (Forastero variety) studied by Rodríguez-Carrasco et al [21]. These results indicate that the proportions of these two components diverge in the CBS with respect to the cocoa bean
Summary
According to the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), each year, more than 4000 tons of cocoa beans are processed and consumed worldwide [1]. The disposal of these by-products can be harmful for the environment because they contain potentially phytotoxic polyphenols [2] and high concentrations of theobromine, which may be toxic for non-human mammals [3] Such underutilization of residual biomass can be overcome by the development of an added-value foodstuff based on cocoa by-products, the cocoa bean shell (CBS), which represents 12% to 20% of the cocoa bean [4]. CBS has been applied as an additive in organic fertilizer [7], as biomass for biogas production [8], or as a pectin source [5], among other applications The application of this cocoa by-product to food has attracted some attention due to its nutritional characteristics and high concentration of phenolic compounds, mainly flavonoids [9]. This market niche is not well defined, by influencing the data on global sales, functional foods irrefutably represent a top trend in the food industry
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