Research Article - Journal of Food Technology and Preservation (2017) Volume 1, Issue 1

Tapping in to the good use of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) pod husks: towards finding alternative sources of nutrients for animals in Nigeria.

Cocoa-pods husk (CPH) is one of the by-products of cocoa processing. The enormous quantities of these materials are produced annually on the farm after crop harvesting and can serve as raw materials to food processing industry which could be converted to animal feeds. This present research is designed to determine the proximate, antinutrient and mineral contents of selected three different species (which are Criollo, Forastero, Trinitario) of fermented and unfermented cocoa pod husks (CPH). The cocoa pod husks were washed, sundried and later milled into powder. A portion of each sample powder was subjected to fermentation and analyses were carried out. The results obtained showed significant (p<0.05) differences in proximate, antinutrient and mineral compositions in the fermented and unfermented forms of treated CPH. The fermented Trinitaro, Foraste and Criollo species of cocoa pod husk recorded higher crude protein content (8.52%, 12.32% and 12.90%) compared to the (4.83%, 4.35% and 5.21%) of unfermented forms respectively. A significant increase was observed in the ash (11.74%), fat (12.07%) and moisture (9.42%) content of the 3 species of fermented while there was a decrease in their crude fibre (21.50%) contents but significant increase was observed with their carbohydrate (48.81%) contents. There was a significant decrease in the level of sodium and iron content in all the selected fermented husks while a significant increase was recorded with the potassium, calcium, magnesium and manganese contents in all the samples with fermentation. The decrease in antinutritional contents (tannin, oxalate and phytate) was recorded in the 3 fermented cocoa pod husks. The flavonoid content was also significantly increased in the fermented species. It could be suggested that fermentation improves the condition of cocoa pod husks for them to be considered as animal feed ingredients in the nearest future.

Author(s): Shodehinde SA, Adamson Abike

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