PRODUCTS

COCOA SHELL

Cocoa shells are a by-product of processing cocoa beans.
During processing, the cocoa bean separates from the shell (also known as the hull), the beans then go on to become all kinds of wonderful chocolatey things and then we package the cocoa bean shells to use as mulch.

APPLICATIONS

The positive impact of cocoa shell on nutritional value of food was emphasized, such as increase of fiber content, enrichment with polyphenols, positive impact on glucose metabolism.
Organic cocoa shells are a very nutritious fertiliser and decorative mulch, which you can use in the garden, for vegetable beds and for potted plants.

We also fertilise our beds with the cocoa shells left over from the chocolate production.
Because cocoa shells retain water well, keep the ground soft, keep snails away to a certain degree, and decompose only very slowly.
You can also combine the cocoa shells with bark mulch.

Cocoa shell is a valuable by-product of the chocolate industry, and it presents a problem for the environment.
High voltage electrical discharge (HVED) would be a sustainable solution for this problem.
After the HVED treatment, drying process is needed, and this study presents insights in a combination of these two technologies on cocoa shell properties.
These results show that cocoa shells can be modified with these processes and are suitable for application in different food products.

-Cocoa shell mulch is a fantastic all natural fertilizer.
-Its fertilizing value is about 2.5-1-3
-Cocoa shell will not burn down grass or other plants.
-Cocoa shell breaks down slowly and will not disappear in the soil.
-Also Cocoa shell is an excellent medium to grow mushrooms.
-As a plus, your garden smells like freshly roasted cacao beans.

Cocoa Shell Benefits

-Rich in dietary fiber
-Rich in polyphenols
-Source of antioxidants
-Vegan

-Fodder

Cocoa shells are full of protein, fibre, minerals, and bioactive compounds, and are an excellent addition for animal feeding.
Mix it in the fodder for fish, pigs, goats and other ruminants, and it is a good and cheap way to reduce the costs of conventional fodder.
Make sure the shells do not make up more than 5% of the fodder; otherwise, the theobromine and caffeine levels will become too high to be healthy for the animals.

-Organic fertilizer and weed killer

Spreading Cocoa shells over garden beds is an attractive top cover for flowerbeds and vegetable patches.
Cocoa shell mulch is not only pretty, it is also an excellent way to increase soil vitality, retain moisture, maintain an even temperature, reduce weed growth, and reduce the need to use herbicides.
So scatter those shells in your garden! Bio char made out of Cocoa shells is also a natural fertilizer; the essential nutrients in the shells are slowly released into the soil.

-Adsorbent

Cocoa shells are an adsorbent, capable of entrapping pollutants out of water – especially some heavy metals.
There are experiments taking place to use the adsorbent qualities of Cocoa shells for cleaning wastewater.

-Drinks

Cocoa shell tea is delicious, so put some cocoa shells in a tea ball and serve family and friends a nice cupper.
The shells can also be used to make a cold brew.
Soak the cocoa shells for 24 hours in cold water, filter, and you have a slightly chocolaty drink.
Nice with ice cubes on a hot day, or mixed with gin, rum, whiskey for a grownup chocky mix drink.

-Packaging and other material

With their high fibre content Cocoa shells are a suitable ingredient for making paper and packaging materials.
Some chocolate makers wrap their chocolate in paper made of Cocoa shells.
What a wonderful thought that the nibs are repacked in their former shells!
A more 21st century recycle option is up-cycling the shells in material for 3D printing.

-Cookies and other baking

The high fibre content makes Cocoa shells also an excellent ingredient for baking.
Some chocolate makers make cookies with the Cocoa shells – full of dietary fibres and chocolaty flavour is included for free.

-Fabric dye

Cocoa shell pigment can be used as a natural dye for fabric colouring.
One study even shows that a dye with Cocoa shell on cotton results in ultraviolet colouring, making it useful for production of UV protective cotton fabric.

-Biofuel

The production of ethanol with cacao shells is in an experimental phase, and the results are promising.
Cocoa shells also showed good potential for biogas production.
So maybe in the future we will drive cars on cacao shell energy.
The thought alone makes us want to eat more chocolate – it is good for the planet!

USE OF COCOA SHELL IN FOOD PRODUCTION

Cocoa shell composition has driven many scientists into implementing Cocoa shell directly in food products and investigating the properties and sensorial acceptance of the obtained products.
In addition, there are research that investigated the application of different components of Cocoa shell as a food ingredient.
This subsection gives an overview of papers that have addressed this topic.

Martinez-Cervera produced chocolate muffins with the addition of soluble dietary fiber extracted from cocoa shell as a fat replacer.
They observed decreased hardening during storage, appropriate texture, higher moisture, and appealing color of enriched muffins.
In another research soluble dietary fibers from cocoa shell were used in production of wheat bread in contents up to 6% without negative effect on sensory properties and storage, with positive impact - a softening effect.

The beneficial effect of commonly consumed products enriched with dietary fibers from the cocoa shell, such as muffins and bread, effects on glucose absorption was shown in an in vitro study, striking the potential of cocoa shell as a food component.
Mazzutti explored the potential of producing both lipid-enriched and phenolic-rich extracts from cocoa shell, stressing their great potential for incorporation in food products.
However, polyphenols are heat-sensitive components and solutions have been sought to preserve them during thermal treatment of food.

Papillo used spray-drying with maltodextrins to achieve this.
Results showed that polyphenols in these extracts were protected during baking and storage.

Alkalized cocoa shell has also found its way into food production.
Bernaert used it for production of a cocoa beverage with a unique taste and rich in dietary fibers.
In another study, they concluded that cocoa shell powder could be used in different food products as a replacement for cocoa powder.

Alkalized cocoa shell was used also in the production of cookies, and the obtained product showed higher resistance to breaking compared to wheat cookies.
Another study was conducted to investigate functional beverages with cocoa shell, where beverages with the highest content of bioactive compounds were the least appreciated by consumers.
This was probably because of polyphenols and methylxanthines that give an astringent taste to these products.

Some direct implementations of cocoa shell in food products without previous processing include the production of pork sausages and extruded snack products.
Pork sausages with levels of cocoa shell of 1% or lower had improved color, viscosity, moisture content, and emulsion stability.
It is important to emphasize that the addition of cocoa bean shell inhibited lipid oxidation in these products. Jozinović added cocoa shell in extruded snack products in amounts of 5%, 10%, and 15%.

This enrichment increased resistant starch and polyphenol content.
Although physical properties were slightly poorer than in conventional products, they were still sensoricaly acceptable.

Cocoa shell will also be interesting for incorporation in chocolates because it would not need to be transported from chocolate factories.
It would be directly used in chocolate production, which would decrease the cost of its use.
A great deal of research has been done with focus on enrichment of chocolates with fiber sources where they replaced sugar or fat.

This gives promising hope that the use of cocoa shell in chocolate production could come to life and the project "Application of cocoa husk in production of chocolate and chocolate-like products" financed by Croatian Science Foundation is aiming to achieve this.
The list of publications resulting from the project may be found here.

DESCRIPTION

The cocoa industry generates large amounts of waste that consist of pod husk, pulp, and bean shell.
Namely, cocoa beans, which are the main ingredient in chocolate production, are removed from the cocoa pod, after which they are fermented and dried. cocoa bean shell is removed from seeds before or after roasting of the beans.

After the separation of the shell from the seed, it is usually discarded or sold as agricultural mulch.
Since the shell presents 12%-20% of the bean, it is obvious that this is the largest waste generated after processing the beans.
According to International Cocoa Organization, the world generation of cocoa waste can be estimated to 700 thousand tons per year.

Cocoa shell has an interesting composition.
Cocoa shell is rich in dietary fibers, proteins, polyphenols, methylxanthines, etc.

Dietary fibers are generally divided into soluble and insoluble fibers.
The soluble/insoluble ratio is very important in human nutrition, and cocoa bean shell has a ratio close to desirable, giving it potential for direct implementation in food.
Dietary fibers of cocoa shell are mainly composed of pectin and cellulose.

In addition, cocoa shell is rich in flavanols (catechin and epicatechin), which have an antioxidant activity, and methylxanthines (theobromine and caffeine), which have an effect on the human nervous system.

Okiyama investigated the lipid profile of cocoa shell and concluded that it is similar to that of cocoa butter, which could lead to its application as a partial substitute for cocoa butter.
Cocoa shell is sourced from the harvesting of the cocoa bean.
The cocoa shell is cracked and separated from the bean for further processing.

Sourced from Africa, this is a popular, natural, sustainable and biodegradable ingredient.
Cocoa shell will vary in colour from batch to batch.
This is a natural product produced by nature.

This product will break down slowly over time.
As it decomposes, the mulch will add nutrients, Nitrogen: Phosphorous: Potash of 3:1:3, which is better than any other mulch, it means it has enough Nitrogen within itself to compost down, whereas bark robs the soil of Nitrogen as it composts and hence deprives plants of this nutrient.

Once the cocoa shell is laid, water it in with a hose or watering can, this releases a natural binding agent which binds the shells together to form a loosely knitted porous mat.
This 'mat' allows water through, bulbs to grow through, plants to expand but prevents weeds from coming up and reduces water evaporation from the soil surface.

Cocoa shell mulch has an especially attractive look compared to most bark mulch, its deep brown colour sets off plants nicely plus it won’t bleach out, the colour only darkens with age.

Cocoa shell is one of the main by-products of cocoa beans.
Cocoa shell is separated from the nibs and are disposed of, as it could affect the final quality of cocoa products.
As a result, a high amount of waste can be produced during mass production of cocoa beans.

Indonesia is one of the largest producers of cocoa beans, and thus hundreds of tonnes of cocoa shells being thrown away can be expected each year.
Despite being considered waste, cocoa shells are actually nutritionally dense, containing high amounts of dietary fiber and polyphenols.
Using the appropriate treatment to remove the naturally occurring mycotoxins in cocoa shells, this underutilized ingredient can have economical value when incorporated into food products.

Cocoa Fiber ( Cacao husk powder / shell powder ) it is a by-product obtained from roasted cocoa husks by cleaning, micronization and sterilization.
Brown colour, the taste and aroma characteristic for cocoa powder are preserved.
The production process is only physical and does not involve any chemical treatment.

Cocoa Shells are the fibrous, outer shells of the Cocoa Beans, which grow on Cocoa Trees (or cacao trees).
These trees are native to the deep tropical areas of the Americas, like the Amazon basin.

Cocoa Shells are known for their highly nutritious content.
They are rich in dietary fibre and protein, as well as antioxidants.
They are also thought to have diuretic properties.

The beans are characterised by a dark brown colour and a sweet, attractive scent.
Cocoa beans have been consumed by native pre-hispanic American tribes for more than for thousand years and became known and popular in Europe only after the discovery of the new world.
In Mayan culture, cocoa was often used in celebration, whereas the Aztecs believed that cocoa trees were delivered to them by the gods.

There are various ways to enjoy the beneficial properties of Cocoa Shells.
Recently, this ingredient has become popular among tea lovers. Cocoa Shells can be roasted and then infused into a tea.

Cocoa and chocolate products are very popular as a food and luxury food all over the world and the variety of chocolate products on the market is high.
According to the BDSI (Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry), 1,095,000 tons of high-quality chocolates and chocolate goods were produced in 2018. Thus, the per capita consumption of chocolate goods lies above 9 kg per year, constant over many years, and chocolate goods represent the largest and most profitable market segment within the confectionery industry.

-The cocoa shell content as a quality parameter

The proportion of shell has been considered an important quality parameter for products made from roasted cocoa beans for decades and more than ever today.
In the quality assessment of cocoa products, the question arises to what extent shell-rich raw materials or overpressing are used during production.
In the production process, undesirable substances can pass from the shell into the cocoa butter and adversely affect the aroma and crystallization properties of cocoa products.

High levels of shells in the final product ultimately represent deterioration and are therefore unacceptable.
In this regard, the Codex Alimentarius Commission has established a benchmark level of 5% cocoa shell, including the germs, calculated on the fat-free cocoa dry mass, which applies to both cocoa mass and cocoa presscake.

If good manufacturing practice is followed, this value should not be exceeded in order to obtain a high quality and acceptable product.
With its entry into force of the EU Cocoa Directive 2000/36 / EC, the legal limit of the cocoa shell content in cocoa products in the EU has disappeared.
Consequently, the 2003 German Cocoa Regulation does not contain a maximum quantity of cocoa shells in cocoa products.

-Analysis of cocoa shell content

At the beginning of the 20th century, microscopic methods were used for the identification of characteristic cocoa mucus and stone cells in the analysis of cocoa shells.
It is taken advantage to that stone cells occur in all cocoa varieties exclusively in the testa, the seed coat.
As early as 1900, Fischer proposed a detection method in which it was possible to derive the shell content from the number of stone cells and their anatomy.
However, these methods are today increasingly difficult to use because of the modern milling techniques, which make a large part of the characteristic stone cells invisible.

In principle, all microscopic methods according to the current state-of-the-art analysis are considered extremely inaccurate, time-consuming and labor-intensive. However, the application of a matrix-based calibration curve and the use of a polarizing microscope have made the procedure considerably simpler, and the AOAC (Association of Official Agricultural Chemists) still considers the counting of stone cells (single or groups) to be the method of choice.

For purity testing of cocoa butter, the blue-value method developed by Fincke and Sacher in 1963 is widely used in industrial quality control.
This method, also known as "B value", was published in the method collection of the IOCCC (International Office of Cocoa, Chocolate and Sugar Confectionery).
In the blue-value method, fatty acid tryptamides and other substances with indole structure as indicator compounds for cocoa waste fats (fat from cocoa shell) react with p- Dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (p-DMAB) in an acidic medium to form a complex which is oxidized to a blue dye by hydrogen peroxide.

In particular, Behenic acid tryptamide (BAT) is found in high quantities in cocoa shells.
By means of photometric measurement of the blue dye, a statement about the cocoa butter quality can be made.
A blue value of <0.04 indicates a perfect cocoa butter.

Since the "B value" is a sum method whose specificity and selectivity no longer meets today's analytical standards, a new rapid method was developed at the Technical University of Munich in cooperation with the LCI in the years 1998-2000.
The dominant fatty acid tryptamides BAT and LAT (Lignoceric acid tryptamide) are quantified as indicator substances using a powerful method based on high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection [HPLC-FLD].

-Current developments in the field of cocoa shell analysis

The quantitative determination of the cocoa shell content is still one of the most important control investigations in cocoa products.
The LCI therefore carried out a scientific project in 2018 on the subject of "Cocoa Shell Analysis Today".
The aim of this work was to fundamentally revise the "B-value" method, since Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) originally used as a solvent is highly undesirable for humans and the environment due to its harmful effects on human health and the environment.

The possibility of using alternative solvents in exchange with CCl4 was checked in a robustness determination.
The comparison showed that hexane fulfills the criteria relevant for the determination of the "B value" and can therefore be exchanged for CCl4.
In addition, it was shown that the very time-consuming shaking by hand in routine analysis can be exchanged by extraction in an ultrasonic bath.
This method, optimized for modern analysis, has been called the "Eco-B value" method.

However, for the determination of the shell content in cocoa masses and cocoa powders, the determination of Fatty acid tryptamides (FAT) by means of HPLC-FLD is the state-of-the-art analytical method.
Since FATs also occur in small quantities in cocoa kernels (cotyledons without seed coats), the shell content can still only be estimated.
In addition, it is important to take into account analytical and biological variations, since the content of Tryptamide is influenced by various factors.

Between 2016 and the end of 2018, the FEI research project "Development of simple mass spectrometric methods for the quantitative detection of cocoa shells in cocoa products for routine analysis" searched for further indicator compounds in the cocoa shell under the direction of Markus Fischer at the University of Hamburg.
High-resolution mass spectrometry was used to identify and characterize 18 key metabolites in cocoa shells that are suitable for determining the cocoa shell content in cocoa products using multivariate data analysis.

To quantify these 18 metabolites from the classes Fatty acid tryptamides, 5-Hydroxy fatty acid tryptamides, α-Tocopherol derivatives, Triacylglycerols and Ceramide derivatives, an LC-ESI triple quadrupole MS method was developed.
However, none of the metabolites investigated meets the criterion of excludability for occurrence in the cocoa shell only, but is always also found in cocoa kernels in small amounts.

In summary, despite centuries of research into cocoa shell analysis, there is still no suitable analytical method for the exact quantification of the cocoa shell content in cocoa products.
With the methods and innovations presented here, however, a satisfactory estimation of the cocoa shell content is achievable.

SYNONYMS

Cocoa Husk
Cocoa Shell
Cacao shell
Cacao husk
Cocoa bean shells
Cocoa Fiber