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The problem facing the industry of cocoa powder in Indonesia is that cocoa powder on the market has a high fat content, high acidity, a color quality that is not comparable with imported cocoa products, and a variety of flavors and aromas. Alkalization is a method that can handle these problems. Alkalization is a process to improve the quality and appearance of cocoa powder. Alkalization is carried out by adding potassium, magnesium, and others to cocoa. High potassium content can be found in cocoa pod husks. Cocoa pod husks are the main by-product from the cocoa industry, constituting 67 – 76% of the cocoa fruit weight. Cocoa pod husk contains potassium, fiber, and antioxidants that function as biomaterials for food and non-food products. The aims of the study were to determine and evaluate the quality of cocoa powder with the effect of alkalization treatments using cocoa pod husks. The study was carried out at The Indonesian Industrial and Beverage Crops Research Institute, Sukabumi, West Java, from January to June 2022. This study was designed in a factorial completely randomized design. The first factor was the alkaline material, which consisted of two levels (cocoa pod husk and baking soda). The second factor was the concentration, which consisted of 3 levels (1%, 2%, and 3%). The variables observed were the L*, a*, b*, moisture content, ash content, fineness, pH, fat content, protein, antioxidant activity, and organoleptic properties. The results showed that the alkalization process with alkaline material from cocoa pod husk and a concentration of 2% is the best quality characteristic of cocoa powder in accordance with SNI 01-3747-2013.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the variability, partition, and correlation of Fe, Mn, and Zn in the leaves and fruit components (pod husk, pulp, tegument, and cotyledons) of cacao trees. These contents were also correlated with chemical attributes of the soils in regions classified as humid (H), humid to sub-humid (SH), and sub-humid to dry (SD) in the South Bahia, Brazil. Soils samples were collected, along with leaves and fruits from the PH16 clone of the cacao tree, for analysis of Fe, Mn, and Zn. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlation were applied, as well as Shapiro Wilk's normality test and Tukey's test for comparison of the climate regions. The accumulation order for Fe and Zn in the fruit components was tegument > pod husk > leaf > cotyledons; and for Mn the order was pod husk > leaf > tegument > cotyledons. The increase in hydric restriction, from the most humid region to the driest, causes natural bioconcentration of Fe, Mn, and Zn in the fruit components used to produce food (cotyledons and pulp). The Mn contents in the leaf can be used as indicators of its accumulation in the cotyledon and cacao pulp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]