Cocoa Pod Husk: Microwave-Assisted Extraction for the Utilization of Pectic and Lignocellulosic Fractions

• Grant number: 25/03619-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Marcus Bruno Soares Forte
• Grantee: Gabriel Cicalese Bevilaqua
• Supervisor: Maria Teresa Garcia Cubero
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos (FEA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidad de Valladolid (UVa), Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/07269-0 - Cocoa pod husk: biomass valorization by emerging pretreatment and fermentative processes, BP.DR

Abstract

Cocoa husk, which represents the largest percentage of the fruit's mass, despite being a raw material rich in pectin and lignocellulose, poses an environmental and economic underutilization problem in producing regions. This project aims to evaluate the effect of microwave-assisted extraction on pectin utilization and the use of the resulting biomass for fermentative processes. To this end, an experimental design will be carried out to optimize processing conditions and improve the pectin extraction and biomass pretreatment stages. The extracted pectin will be purified through diafiltration and ultrafiltration processes, characterized, and partially hydrolyzed to obtain pectooligosaccharides (POS). The extracted pectin and POS will be evaluated for their antioxidant and prebiotic potential. The pretreated solids will undergo enzymatic hydrolysis to release structural sugars, which will be used in the fermentative process to obtain biobutanol. Therefore, the aim is to define microwave-assisted extraction conditions to simultaneously obtain functional pectin fractions and pretreated biomass applicable in bioprocesses, contributing to advancing the cocoa industry towards a more sustainable and economically viable future.