A Franco-Ghanaian research consortium is developing zero-waste cocoa

A Franco-Ghanaian research team, composed of the Institute of Chemistry of Environments and Materials of Poitiers (IC2MP) and the Ghana Universities of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, is developing a process to transform cocoa pods into sugars of industrial interest.

” Currently, the empty pods, once the beans have been collected, are considered waste and accumulate in the cocoa plantations. Waste that acts as incubators for brown rot bacteria, a cocoa disease that severely reduces cocoa production explains Prince Amaniampong, CNRS researcher at the ICEMP.

Thus was developed a technology patented by the CNRS to extract sugars from pods. ” The researchers thus obtain a mixture of lignin, polyphenols and sugars dissolved in an aqueous medium. These sugars and polyphenols can already be upgraded, while the lignin is sent back to Ghana, where it undergoes a pyrolysis process. This heating in the absence of oxygen makes it possible to obtain a bio-oil rich in phenolic compounds which could be of interest to industry. These could be used in particular to boost the growth of cocoa plants. ” indicates the press release from the CNRS.

Still at the preliminary stage, the process should eventually lead to building of a pilot unit in Ghana capable of carrying out all the processing of pods of cocoa, says François Jérômeresearch director at IC2MP.