Mbajiuka¹, Chinedu S^1,, Ifediora A.C¹, Onwuakor C.E¹, Nwokoji L.I¹

Ripe cocoa pods whose seeds have been extracted were examined for production of ethanol and biomass as one of the measures of converting waste into useful products. The cocoa pods were grinded to fine powder and hydrolyzed using 1M HCl for 4 hours at 75°C to digest the cellulose to glucose. The hydrolysate was filtered, neutralized with 2% NaOH and the salt disposed. Determination of reducing sugar by Fehling’s reagent confirmed presence of glucose in the medium. 15°Brix sugar (1.0625SG) produced from the hydrolysis was optimized to 24°Brix (1.104 SG) with 65g of sucrose and fermented to ethanol, using yeasts from Nigerian local palm wine by batch fermentation at room temperature. The pH range was between 4.03-3.91 at temperature of 28°C and 30°C, producing biomass of 0.7-1.489 with fall in the sugar content from 24°Brix to 2°Brix, after 7 days of fermentation. 10.3% ethanol was obtained after distillation. Further distillation of the sample under controlled fermentation could produce a higher percentage of ethanol.

Theobroma cacao, Palm wine, yeast, fermentation, alcohol, biomass