Evaluation of the Nutritional Composition of Cocoa Bean Shell Waste (Theobroma cacao) and Application in the Production of a Phenolic-rich Iced Tea

ABSTRACT Annually, cocoa industry produces tons of wastes with potential applications as functional ingredients, such as the cocoa bean shell (CBS), which is rich in antioxidants and dietary fiber. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the composition of CBS and produce an iced tea, which was subjected to sensorial analyses. The powder was mainly composed of dietary fiber (37.5%), lipids (19.7%), proteins (14.6%), and 25.7 mg of Gallic acid equivalents/g. The iced tea retained 85.3% of phenolics from CBS, and the most preferred/accepted formulation was prepared with 30 g of powder and 1 liter of water. These results indicate the potential of CBS to be used as a functional ingredient due to the high content of phenolic compounds and dietary fiber, adding value to this cocoa industry waste. In addition, the iced tea produced in this study proved to be a low-cost and eco-friendly alternative to increase consumer’s ingestion of antioxidants.