Solid state fermentation of the cocoa husk, (Theobroma cacao. L)

Abstract

In order to improve the bromatological composition of the cocoa husk for animal feed, an experiment was carried out with different variants of solid state fermentation that included urea levels (0, 1 and 1.5%) and fermentation times (24, 48 and 96 hours) A completely randomized design with factorial arrangement (3x3) with 3 repetitions was used. Dry matter (MS), ash (Cz), crude protein (PB), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), detergent acid fiber (FAD) and neutral detergent fiber (FDN) were evaluated. At the end of the fermentation process there was a decrease in the DM, the fibrous component and an increase of 9.49 and 10.19 percentage units of the PB at 96 hours, including 1% and 1.5% urea, regarding the unfermented husk (9,12). To conclude the study, it was evident that the fermentation of this by-product increases its protein concentration with the incorporation of urea.