Abstract
The aims of this study were to determine the proximate composition of cacao pod husk as well as the optimal conditions for extraction and purification of theobromine from cacao pod husk. The results indicated that cacao pod husk had high contents of moisture and carbohydrate (87.06% and 11.03% by fresh weight, respectively), but low contents of crude protein, crude lipid, and ash (0.31%, 0.12%, and 1.48% by fresh weight, respectively). The optimal conditions for extraction of theobromine from cacao pod husk were of 70% ethanol, with an extraction time of 90 min, and 1 as the number of extractions. A concentration of 10% by volume of 10% lead acetate solution was the best selection for purification of the crude extracts containing theobromine from cacao pod husk. Under these optimal conditions, theobromine content obtained from cacao pod husk was 6.79 mg/100 g dry weight. The finding from this study is a valuable contribution for obtaining theobromine from an abundant, inexpensive, renewable, and sustainable source for potential application in the nutraceutical, medical, and pharmaceutical industries.
Highlights
Theobroma cacao L. has been known as “the food of the gods”
The results showed that cacao pod husk had high contents of moisture and carbohydrates (87.06% and 11.03% by fresh weight, respectively), but low contents of crude proteins, crude lipids, and ash (0.31%, 0.12%, and 1.48% by fresh weight, respectively)
The contents of crude protein, crude lipid, ash, and carbohydrate were of 2.42%, 0.93%, 11.44%, and 85.21% by dry weight, respectively, indicating that cacao pod husk contains high carbohydrate content which forms a firm structure for its husk
Summary
Theobroma cacao L. has been known as “the food of the gods”. Cacao tree is wildly grown in tropical and subtropical areas around the world including in Africa, such as Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon, in American countries, like Brazil, Ecuador, Columbia, and Mexico, in Caribbean and Southwestern Pacific countries, such as the Dominican Republic and Papua New Guinea, and in Southeast Asian countries, like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Total production of cacao bean is estimated worldwide to be approximately 4.0 million tonnes in 2013, with a value about $12 billion [1]. Residues or wastes from the cacao processing industry consist of cacao pod shell, husk, pulp/mucilage, and hull, which account for a high proportion, approximately 85% by fresh weight of total cacao pod mass [2], in which the annual worldwide amount of cacao pod husk is estimated to be about 55 million tonnes, which is equal to 13 times the total amount of cacao bean. Cacao pod husk needs to be exploited to produce high-value-added products and this waste has been considered as an abundant, inexpensive, and renewable source of theobromine, a valuable compound, which exhibits stimulatory effects on the central nervous, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, renal, and respiratory systems [3].
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