RESEARCH ON THE ABILITY TO HYDROLYZE COCOA BEAN MUCUS BY PECTINEX ULTRA SP AND ITS APPLICATION IN FERMENTED PRODUCTS

Abstract

Cocoa is a high-value tropical industrial tree that is commonly grown in southern Vietnam. However, the value of cocoa beans has not been fully exploited, one of the reasons for this is the pectin content in the mucus of cocoa berries. This study investigated the conditions of hydrolysis of cocoa mucus by Pectinex Ultra SP-L commercial enzyme at different temperature levels (40 ÷ 50°C), time (10 ÷ 40 minutes) and enzyme content (0.025 ÷ 0.1%). At the same time, the study investigated fermentation conditions such as fermentation time (10 ÷ 40 minutes),  yeast density (10⁵ ÷ 10⁷ cells/mL) and soluble dry matter content (16 ÷ 20 Bx). The results showed that at a temperature of 45°C, and a time of 20 minutes, the enzyme content of 0.075% gave a recovery efficiency of 95% and a throughput of 96.9%, and the fruit juice after hydrolysis had a clear consistency suitable for the production of drinking water and fermented products. Regarding fermentation conditions, with a fermentation time of 60 hours, yeast cell density of 10⁶CFU/mL, dissolved dry matter content of 18^oBx, the alcohol content will reach 2.9, the sensory score of 15.2 products will be good. The success of the study contributes to providing more understanding of preliminary processing and processing conditions to improve the added value of cocoa beans.