Abstract
Cocoa pod husks are a waste generated during the processing of cocoa beans. We aimed to explore the enzymatic extraction of pectin using cellulases. The extraction process was optimized using a central composite design (CCD) and analyzed by response surface methodology (RSM). The parameters optimized were feedstock concentration (%), enzyme dosage (µL/g), and time (h). Three dependent variables were studied: pectin yield (g/100 g dry husk) (R2 = 97.02), galacturonic acid content (g/100 g pectin) (R2 = 96.90), and galacturonic acid yield (g/100 g feedstock) (R2 = 95.35). The optimal parameters were 6.0% feedstock concentration, 40 µL g−1 of enzyme, and 18.54 h, conditions that produced experimentally a pectin yield of 10.20 g/100 g feedstock, 52.06 g galacturonic acid/100 g pectin, and a yield 5.31 g galacturonic acid/100 g feedstock. Using the chemical extraction method, a yield of 8.08 g pectin/100 g feedstock and a galacturonic acid content of 60.97 g/100 g pectin were obtained. Using assisted sonication, a pectin yield of 8.28 g/100 g feedstock and a galacturonic acid content of 42.77 g/100 g pectin were obtained. Enzymatically optimized pectin has rheological and physicochemical features typical of this biomaterial, which provides an interesting alternative for the valorization of cocoa husks.
Highlights
Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is a crop of high commercial importance that generates an income for more than 4.5 million families all over the world [1]
Pectins are a diverse group of polysaccharithe fluid is considered pseudo plasticdes of D-galacturonic acid with units linked by α 1–4 bonds that contain other sugars such as galactose, arabinose, glucose, and xylose
It is desirable to obtain a pectin with high galacturonic acid (GA) content, which is strongly influenced, as the results showed, by the extraction conditions
Summary
Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is a crop of high commercial importance that generates an income for more than 4.5 million families all over the world [1]. Since the commercial product of interest from the cacao fruit is the dry grain, it is estimated that in order to produce 1 ton of dry grain, about 10 tons of cacao husk are generated. This significant amount of residue is not utilized, despite being a potential feedstock for the extraction of added value compounds [3,4], being left out on the ground to decompose causing bad smells, soil chemical imbalance, and becoming a potential source for the development of pathogenic microorganisms that affect crop health [5]. Pectin is widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries due to its particular gelling properties and health benefits, including regulation of appetite, coronary disease prevention, and certain types of cancer mitigation [12,13]
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