Abstract
Increasing production of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) leads to a higher environmental burden due to its solid waste generation. Cocoa pod husk, one of the major solid wastes of cocoa production, contains rich bioactive compounds unveiling its valorization potential. With that in mind, our research aimed to explore the biological and antioxidant activities of aqueous extracts from cocoa pod husks. In this present work, cocoa pod husk was extracted using water and subsequentially partitioned using n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol. The antimicrobial investigation revealed that the ethyl acetate solubles were active against the Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans, where at a 20% w/v concentration, the inhibition diameters were 6.62 ± 0.10, 6.52 ± 0.02, and 11.72 ± 0.36 mm, respectively. The extracts were found non-toxic proven by brine shrimp lethality tests against Artemia salina with LC50 scores ranging from 74.1 to 19,054.6 μg/mL. The total phenolic content and total flavonoid content were obtained in the range of 47.44 to 570.44 mg/g GAE and 1.96 to 4.34 mg/g QE, respectively. Antioxidant activities of the obtained extracts were revealed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) assay with EC50 reached as low as 9.61 μg/mL by the ethyl acetate soluble. Phytochemical screening based on gas chromatography—mass spectroscopy analysis on the sample with the highest antioxidant activities revealed the dominant presence of three phytosterols, namely gamma-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and campesterol.
Highlights
Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is recognized as a vital export commodity for some countries, such as Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Indonesia, Cameroon, and Nigeria
Cocoa pod husk can act as the source of bioactive and antioxidant compounds which hold significance in foods [13,14]
Chemicals used in this study included concentrated ammonia, methanol, ethyl acetate, n-hexane, gelatin, FeCl3, NH3, chloroform, concentrated HCl, HCl 0.5 M, Mg metal, Mueller Hinton Agar (MHA), Nutrient Agar (NA), Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA), gentamicin, ketoconazole, ethanol 70 and 96%, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ascorbic acid, NaHCO3, gallic acid, AlCl3, and quercetin
Summary
Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is recognized as a vital export commodity for some countries, such as Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Indonesia, Cameroon, and Nigeria. The recovery of bioactive compounds from cocoa pod husk has been considered as a strategic valorization approach [4]. Secondary metabolites from T. cacao are shown to possess high antioxidant activities [5,6]. This is ascribed to the high content of polyphenols reported by various works [7]. Cocoa pod husk exhibits high antioxidant activities and biological activities due to a similar phytoconstituents profile with that of cocoa bean [9,10,11]. Cocoa pod husk can act as the source of bioactive and antioxidant compounds which hold significance in foods [13,14]
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