Chemical characteristics, phytochemicals and cacao shell toxicity changes during the processing of cocoa beans

Cacao shell is one of the waste from cocoa field that still contains nutrition and bioactive compound. The amount of cacao shells produced is abundant and unused. If there is no handling, it will have an effect on environmental pollution. The handling has ever done is to make cacao shell as animals feed. Before using the cacao shell, it must go through testing of toxic substances. Fruit fusion, fermentation, and drying is an important steps as it influences of changing the nutrition and toxicity in seeds and cacao shell. The methodology used in this research is descriptive method. The toxicity test uses Brine Shrimp Lethality Test method by counting the value of LC50. There are several changing of nutrition of fresh cacao shell after fermentation and drying. There is an increase of fat, crude fiber, and polyphenols and the decrease of water and tannins. The fresh and after drying cacao shell contain phytochemical compounds such as polyphenols, tannins, and flavonoids. After the fermentation process, cacao shells contain tannins only. Based on toxicity test using Artemia salina L., there is a changing toxicity of cacao shells from its LC50 value. Fresh cacao shells LC50 value is 57.38 ppm, after fermentation is 127.54 ppm and after drying is 220.15 ppm. The toxicity of fresh cacao shells, after fermentation, and after drying are less than 1000 ppm which indicates that cacao shells contain toxic substance.