DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v25i5.118

Keywords: Pectin; cocoa pod husk; yield; acid; solvent

Abstract

Cocoa pod husk is an agricultural waste from cocoa bean processing. It is an excellent source of pectin, which has great advantages as dietary fiber, thickening agent, and food texture stabilizer. This study aims to investigate the efficiency of pectin extraction from cocoa pod husk dried at different temperature (sun-drying, 50°C and 85°C) as well as the use of various extracting solvents (citric acid vs acetic acid solution, concentrations at concentrations 5, 12.5, and 25% v/v, pro analysis vs technical grade). The extraction was carried out at 95℃ for 5 hours. The results showed that the drying temperature of cocoa pod husk, besides the types and concentrations of solvent have induced differences in yield and characteristics of the crude pectin. The drying of cocoa pod husk at 50°C was associated with higher yield and water holding capacity of the pectin. In addition, higher pectin yield was also obtained from the extraction using aqueous citric acid solution (5℅, pro analysis). However, there were possibilities for substitution with different acid and technical grade solvent. This finding could be used as a basis for pectin production from cocoa pod husk at industrial level.