Cocoa Extract from Roasted Nibs of Cianjur Undersized Fermented Cacao Beans

Aging trees, diseases, and climate changes increase undersized (below standard) cacao beans production. Undersized cocoa beans have a bean count of more than 120, have a higher percentage of shells that require adjustment to manufacturers deshelling machine and produce a lower yield of cocoa butter than standard-sized beans. Chocolate manufacturers prefer higher-grade beans to optimize yield and quality. However, undersized cacao beans can still be utilized as raw material for valuable products and are usually valued at a lower price. This is an opportunity to create an affordable ingredient for products that do not require a significant amount of cocoa butter, such as cocoa extract for natural flavoring ingredient. Therefore, the unsellable undersized beans will not be wasted instead turned into a valuable product. This research aims to utilize undersized cocoa bean nibs into a cocoa extract by maceration and compare it to the cocoa extract from standard-sized beans. The first phase of the research was determining the optimum maceration parameter (nibs:solvent ratio and duration). Compared to the 1:3, 1:6, and 1:9 ratios, 1:2 was the optimum ratio for this experiment because it could produce targeted concentration in a shorter time (48 hours). Using this maceration parameter, the extract from standard-sized beans and undersized beans have the same average pH of 6.1. With the concentration of 569.475ppm and 573.425ppm respectively, there is no significant difference in terms of TDS between them. Therefore, the undersized beans can be used as raw material to make a cocoa extract. Also, from the simulation calculation, the ex-work price of producing extract using undersized cacao beans is 26% cheaper than the standard-sized.