Determination of Anti-Pseudomonal Activities of Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) Pod Husk using Time-Kill-Test and Agar-Well Diffusion Techniques

Aim: To determine the antimicrobial effectiveness of cocoa pod husk against P. aeruginosa. Study Design: An experimental research Place and Duration of Study: Department of Medical Microbiology, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria, between June 2015 and Sept. 2016. Materials and Methods: Seventy-seven (77) isolates of P. aeruginosa obtained from three (3) teaching hospitals were involved in this study. Cocoa pod husk was processed into crude extract and its effectiveness against the isolates of P. aeruginosa were examined using agar well diffusion, time-kill test techniques and Anova. Results: The percentage susceptibility of P. aeruginosa to Cocoa pod husk at 500 mg/mL and 250 mg/mL inhibited all the P. aeruginosa but only 14.29% were sensitive at a lower concentration of 31.25 mg/mL. Moreover, the comparison between the broth micro and macro dilution method of determining the MIC of cocoa pod husk against P. aeruginosa highlighted a significant decrease in the mean MIC value of the broth micro dilution method when compared with the broth macro dilution technique (T=13.519, P<0.05). The time kill test emphasized that P. aeruginosa was killed at a lower concentration of 62.5mg/ml at 150mins of introduction in to the Cocoa pod husk suspension. Conclusion: This study revealed that the Cocoa pod husk possesses antibacterial properties. An increase in the concentration of cocoa pod husk increased its antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Moreover, the broth micro dilution technique is sensitive for determining the anti-pseudomonal activity.

Potential Use of Industrial Cocoa Waste in Biofuel Production

Worldwide, the wastes derived from food production are generated in elevated volumes annually. In particular, the cocoa industrial wastes represent a source of usable biomass for the elaboration of new products such as food, livestock feed, cosmetics, and chemical products, and they can even be used for the generation of biofuels. The cocoa industrial wastes include cocoa pod husk, mucilage, and bean shells, which contain compounds of interest for different industries. However, the lignocellulose content of these by-products requires a pretreatment to fully utilize them; thus, different biofuels can be produced, depending on the conversion technology used to obtain the highest biomass yield. Recent studies reported the use of cocoa industrial wastes for the production of solid, liquid, and gaseous biofuels; nevertheless, the most common use reported is as a direct combustion source, which is used to supply the same production plants. Therefore, the objective of this work is to carry out a review on the uses of the by-products generated from cocoa for the generation of biofuels, as well as the technological concept applied for the transformation. In addition, the future trends indicate the relevance of using catalysts in production to increase reactions in the conversion of compounds, including the use of statistical models to optimize the processing variables.

In-Vitro Screenings for Biological and Antioxidant Activities of Water Extract from Theobroma cacao L. Pod Husk: Potential Utilization in Foods

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.

Near infrared spectra features of cocoa pod husk used for feedstuff

This presented study aimed to study the near infrared spectroscopic features of cocoa pod husk samples used as raw materials for animal feedstuff. Spectral data of organic material samples contains chemical properties information that can be revealed through modelling, Thus, the study of this features is essential to assess and reveal buried respective information. Cocoa pod husk samples were obtained from several districts in Aceh Province, grinded and prepared as bulk samples. Diffuse reflectance spectral data for a total of 30 bulk cocoa pod husk samples were acquired and recorded in wavelength range from 1000 to 2500 nm. Spectral data were firstly projected onto principal component analysis to observe similarities among samples. Spectra correction, namely mean normalization was employed to enhance spectra features. The results showed that several chemical information related to cocoa properties can be revealed such as dry matter, crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract, nitrogen-free extract and ash content due to the second and third overtones pf combination bands O-H, C-O-H and N-H. Optimum wavelength for estimating cocoa pod husk attributes are in 1217, 1405-1474 nm, 1629 nm, 1906-1979 nm, and 2283 nm. Based on obtained study, it may conclude that several quality attributes of animal feed samples further can be determined by means of near infrared spectroscopy approach.

Reduction in the Emission Rate of Greenhouse Gases and the Increase in Crop Production by Using Compost on Marginal Land

Greenhouse gases dominated by CO2, CH4, CFC, and N2O come from human (anthropogenic) activities. Efforts to increase the production of rice and corn crops require organic and inorganic fertilizers. The use of chemical fertilizers, which can increase greenhouse gas emissions, is higher than that of organic fertilizers. This study aimed to investigate the reduction in the greenhouse gas emission rate and the increase in crop production caused by organic fertilizer from rice straw and cocoa peel, a community-based sustainable development approach based on education. This research used the mixed method, a descriptive and simple experimental design with the following treatments: t0 = without Compost; ta = straw rice compost dosage of 3 t ha-1; tb = cocoa pod husk dosage of 3 t ha-1; Bta = maize crops + without compost (t0); Btb = maize crops + cocoa pod husk compost (tb); Sta = bare soil + without compost (t0); Stb = rice crops + straw compost (ta); Stc = rice crops + cocoa pod husk compost (tb); and Std = rice crops + without compost (t0). The application of compost reduced agricultural waste and greenhouse gas emissions of CH4 and N2O in both maize and rice fields. Greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 30 percent compared to those under the application of chemical fertilizers. The utilization of compost as organic fertilizer also increased the production of corn and rice crops compared to that without the application of agricultural waste up to 10.3 tons per ha.

The Biomass Waste Pyrolysis for Biopesticide Application

The pyrolysis method has been used in various fields and has attracted the attention of many researchers so that this method can be applied to treat biomass waste. Pyrolysis of biomass occurs through heating a substance with limited oxygen so that the decomposition of complex compounds such as lignocellulose into simpler compounds occurs. The heat energy of the pyrolysis process encourages the oxidation of biomass so that complex carbon molecules break down into carbon and bio-oil. Pyrolysis of biomass for coconut shells, cashew nut shells, and cocoa pod husk was carried out at a temperature of 400–600°C with a flow rate of 6–7°C/min. The content of bio-oil compounds from its biomass based on the analysis of gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy obtained phenolic acid, pyrimidine derivatives, amines, carbamate acids, furans, esters derivatives, pyridine, ketones, furans, and aldehydes that can be used as active compounds for biopesticides.

Investigation of the Impact of Aging Upon the Mechanical Properties of Cocoa Pod Husk

The husk of fresh cocoa pods has traditionally been considered a waste by-product in the production of chocolate and other related confectionaries. However, in recent times new research has shed light on an increasing number of uses for this material. Of particular interest are applications that utilize the cocoa pod husk (CPH) for its mechanical properties. In most instances, the CPH raw material is allowed to age for several days before pre-processing or utilization in the intended application. Despite this, the impact of aging on its mechanical properties is an area that has not been well investigated. Consequently, this work seeksto determine the impact of aging upon the mechanical properties of CPH. To investigate this, several CPH properties were identified and selected for evaluation. These included CPH tensile strength, CPH compressive strength, cocoa pod transverse compressive strength, cocoa pod longitudinal compressive strength, CPH cutting force, cocoa pod cutting force, CPH hardness, and CPH colour. These properties were subsequently assessed over an aging period of seven days. The results obtained indicated that most CPH mechanical properties vary significantly with aging time. Moreover, CPH colour was found to bestrongly related to the mechanical properties of pod longitudinal compressive strength and CPH hardness, with correlation coefficients of -0.71 and 0.86 respectively. Further, these relationships were found to be strongly linear in nature and regression analyses indicated that up to 83% of the variation in longitudinal compressive strength can be accounted for by changes in colour, hardness and aging time. These results provide the basis for the potential development of image analysis and computer vision approaches to CPH sorting and grading.

Cacao Pod Husk Extract Phenolic Nanopowder-Impregnated Cellulose Acetate Matrix for Biofouling Control in Membranes

The ultrafiltration membrane process is widely used for fruit juice clarification, yet the occurring of fouling promotes a decline in process efficiency. To reduce the fouling potential in the membrane application in food processing, the use of natural phenolic compounds extracted from cocoa pod husk is investigated. The cocoa pod husk extract (CPHE) was prepared in phenolic nanoparticles form and added into the polymer solution at varying concentrations of 0.5 wt%, 0.75 wt%, and 1.0 wt%, respectively. The composite membrane was made of a cellulose acetate polymer using DMF (dimethylformamide) and DMAc (dimethylacetamide) solvents. The highest permeability of 2.34 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 was achieved by 1.0 wt% CPHE/CA prepared with the DMAc solvent. CPHE was found to reduce the amount of Escherichia coli attached to the membranes by 90.5% and 70.8% for membranes prepared with DMF and DMAc, respectively. It is concluded that CPHE can be used to control biofouling in the membrane for food applications.