PAPER TITLE :EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT METHODS OF FERMENTATION ON MICROBIOLOGY, PROXIMATE AND MINERAL COMPOSITIONS OF COCOA BEAN (THEOBROMA CACAO (L.)

FUTA JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE | VOLUME 10 NUMBER 1 2014

Paper Details

  • Author(s) : O.O. Oladele*, O.O. Rotimi and A.A. Yusuf
  • Abstract:

The study investigated effects of different methods of fermentation on microbiology, proximate and
mineral composition of cocoa bean (Theobroma cacao (L.). Open, close and local methods of fermentation
of cocoa beans were carried out separately for five days. Microbial analysis was carried out using pourplate
technique while proximate and mineral analyses were determined using standard methods. The
bacterial count of cocoa beans at 5th day of fermentation ranged from 2.0 x 104 cfu/ml in local method to
1.0 x 102 cfu/ml in close method. The bacteria isolated and identified included Bacillus subtilis, B. cereus,
B.licheniformis, Micrococcus luteus and Staphylococcus aureus. Fungi count also ranged from 1.03 x 104
sfu/ml in local method to 1.0 x 102sfu/ml in close method. Fungi isolated and identified included
Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Neurospora crassa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The pH of the fermenting
cocoa beans ranged from 8.0 in local to 3.5 in close method. Also, the proximate analyses of the fermenting
beans showed that the moisture content ranged from 55.56 to 50.89%; fat from 23.56 to 21.93%; protein
from 13.46 to 11.06%; ash from 5.94 to 5.91% and carbohydrate from 13.46 to 11.06%. All values ranged
from close to local method with open method having higher values than close but lower than local method.
There was a significant increase in the concentration of calcium, copper, iron, sodium potassium and
magnesium in the fermenting cocoa beans.
Keywords: Cocoa bean, fermentation, microbiology, proximate, mineral