European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

DETERMINATION OF THE FREE FATTY ACID CONTENT OF COCOA BEANS FROM THE INDENIÉ-DJUABLIN REGION CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Yao Brou Lazare*, Tano Kablan and Dembele Ardjouma

ABSTRACT

The quality of cocoa beans is a major concern for cocoa farmers, manufacturers and consumers of cocoa products. Thus our study proposes to determine the content of free fatty acids in cocoa beans in the Indenié-Djuablin region, which is one of the major cocoa production areas in the Ivory Coast. A total of 20 cocoa bean samples were taken from the Indenié-Djuablin region. These samples were transported to the laboratory for analysis of free fatty acids. These free fatty acids were determined by titrimetry. The results of this study showed that all samples contain free fatty acid. The contents of these free fatty acids vary from 1.91% to 2.42% and the highest contents are found in the samples from the locality of Bondoukou while the lowest contents come from the samples from the locality of Dimbokro. These levels obtained lead to a risk of exposure of the population to the harmful effects of these molecules. In general, the high levels of free fatty acid in samples of cocoa beans from Indenié-Djuablin could be due to poor agricultural practices, from harvesting to packaging of the beans in warehouses. Added to this is also the failure to comply with the construction standards for storage warehouses and the lack of maintenance of these premises.

Keywords: Cocoa beans, free fatty acids, producers.