Quality response of cocoa beans to different storage materials in the Samreboi District of Ghana Cocobod in The Western Region
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Date
July, 2016
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Abstract
A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of different storage bags over different
storage periods on the quality of dried cocoa beans. The study was conducted at Samreboi
Cocoa District which is part of Wassa Amenfi West District of Western Region of Ghana.
The study was made up of two parts namely survey using questionnaire and laboratory
analysis. In all 70 cocoa purchasing clerks were sampled and interviewed using convenient
sampling technique on the qualities, forms of defects and problems in cocoa beans storage in
the district with the help of closed and opened questionnaires. Their res ponses were analyzed
with the help of SPSS. The experiment was a 3×7 factorial arrangement laid out in a
randomized complete design (RCD) with three replications. The factor A was made up of jute
sack, woven nylon and hermetic bag. Factor B was a lso varying time of storage (0, 1, 2, 3, 4,
5 and 6 months). Cut test was conducted to assess effects of the experimental treatments on
the physical attributes of the stored cocoa beans. Proximate analysis was carried out at the
KNUST Biochemistry department laboratory. Analysis of Variance was carried out on the
data using Statistix Student Version 9. Tukey's HSD was used for mean separation at
probability level of 0.01. The survey revealed that wet beans (65.7%) followed by mouldy
beans (35.7%), slaty beans (27.1%), impurities (38.1%) and purple beans (42.9%) were the
five most common forms of defects in cocoa beans in the district. The results indicated that
cocoa beans stored hermetically recorded the least mould, germinated and other defects
except slate and purple, among the methods of storage used in this study. Hermetic bag
recorded the lowest moisture content of 6.80% whilst the jute sack and woven nylon recorded
8.59% and 7.47% respectively. The jute sack and woven nylon recorded higher fat, nitrogen
free extract, free fatty acids and pH compared with hermetic bag. The use of hermetic sacs
resulted in superior quality stored beans. It is recommended that hermetic storage material
should be used by stakeholders for storage of cocoa to increase shelf-life
Description
A thesis submitted to The School of Research and Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Master of Philosophy (Postharvest Technology) Degree.