Ekstraksi Senyawa Antioksidan Kulit Buah Kakao (Theobroma cacao L.) Menggunakan Metode Microwave Assisted Extraction

Abstract

The cocoa fruit consists of the husk, cocoa beans, and placenta. Cocoa beans account for ±75% of the total weight of cocoa pods. High cocoa production leads to an increase in the amount of cocoa pods wasted, while the utilization of cocoa pods is still not optimal. Cocoa pods contain quite a lot of bioactive components, including polyphenol and flavonoid compounds that are useful as antioxidants. Antioxidant compounds can be extracted with several types of solvents, one of which is distilled water. Extraction of antioxidant compounds in cocoa fruit can be done by various methods, one of which is the microwave method or Microwave Assisted Extraction (MAE) which has several advantages over conventional extraction methods. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of material:solvent ratio and extraction time used in the extraction of cocoa fruit skin using the MAE method with distilled water solvent. This research is a type of experimental research that uses a two-factor Completely Randomized Design (CRD) research method, namely variations in material:solvent ratio treatment (1:40, 1:45, and 1:50 (b/v)) and extraction time (10, 20, and 30 minutes). The test data obtained were analyzed using the ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) method. If there is a significant difference, it is continued with DMRT (Duncan's Multiple Range Test) at the 5% test level. All data analysis results were processed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 25. In this study, three replicates were conducted with four testing parameters, namely pH test, total polyphenol test, total flavonoid test, and antioxidant activity test of cocoa fruit peel extract. After the research was conducted, it was found that the ratio of ingredients: solvent and extraction time used significantly influenced the cocoa fruit peel extract produced with the best sample being A3B2 with a pH value of 6.33, total polyphenols of 12.84 mg GAE/g, total flavonoids of 12.34 mg QE/g, and the highest %inhibition of antioxidant activity of 37.09%. The higher the material:solvent ratio and extraction time used in the extraction process, the more extracted compounds will be. However, if it reaches the optimum point, antioxidant compounds such as polyphenols and flavonoids will be damaged so that they are not extracted properly.