Project Abstract

Abstract
Cocoa pods are known for their rich content of beans used in chocolate production, but they also contain a significant amount of wax that has various potential applications. This study focused on the extraction of wax from cocoa pods to explore its properties and potential uses. The extraction process involved several steps, including crushing the pods to separate the beans from the husks, followed by a solvent extraction method using hexane to isolate the wax. The extracted wax was then analyzed for its physical and chemical properties, including melting point, color, and composition. The results indicated that the cocoa pod wax had a melting point within the range of typical natural waxes and exhibited a light yellow color. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed the presence of various fatty acids and esters in the wax, which are common components of natural waxes. The potential applications of cocoa pod wax were explored, including its use in cosmetic products, pharmaceuticals, and food packaging. Due to its natural origin and composition, cocoa pod wax has the potential to serve as a sustainable and biodegradable alternative to synthetic waxes currently used in these industries. Additionally, the wax showed good emollient properties, making it suitable for use in skincare products such as lotions and creams. Overall, this study demonstrated the feasibility of extracting wax from cocoa pods and highlighted the potential value of this natural material. Further research is warranted to optimize the extraction process, evaluate the performance of cocoa pod wax in various applications, and assess its economic viability on a larger scale. By utilizing this byproduct of the cocoa industry, not only can waste be minimized, but also a new sustainable resource can be harnessed for the benefit of various industries.

Project Overview

INTRODUCTION

The word wax describes a large variety of substances of plant and animal origin, as well as man made products which are mostly petroleum derivatives.

However, natural waxes are not single substances, but a mixture of various of long-chain fatty acids and a variety of other constituents, depending on their origin.

Each wax therefore has unique physical and chemical characteristics which are exploited in a multitude of applications.

The increasing important of raw materials together with the complexity of modern technology for their production, processing, collection, distribution, quality control, marketing, utilization and extractions hould not be overemphasized.

For the course of study, which is extraction of wax from cocoa pod, it is vital to understand the physical properties, compositions and characteristics of waxes so that maximum efficiency will be achieved while carrying out the practical.

The characterization of waxes for industrial or domestic use is physic-chemical rather than structural. Although all waxes, possess the same characteristic physical properties of feel, consistency, melting point and water disability. It physical characteristic of water insolubility, made it good for use in coatings of paper, wood, textiles, metal fruits and vegetables; to protect against moisture, chemical and mechanical damage to food packaging. For the fact that it serves as an ingredient in diverse materials, its uses has increased over the years with industrialization. It is obvious that wax has so many functions and uses than other material. For this reason many investigations ahs been carried out into the production of wax from vegetable, plants such as grass sugar-cane cotton orange, jojobus feed, palm leaf, cocoa pod etc.

Initially all quantity of products made of wax being consumed in Nigeria were mainly from oversea countries. At this time of economic diversification, there is need for us to embark upon our locally made raw material. For this reason plants which are available in the country are being research on as source of producing wax and this helps us to make use of our local raw material which had been left out and neglected.

It is because of this that the work in question has been indicated, with the purpose of finding locally available source of producing wax as that contained in cocoa pod. For this work, comparisons were made with the yield of wax produced from cocoa pod with that of other similar vegetable plants. Also comparison were made with the physical properties of wax from cocoap pod and other waxes. The properties compared are moisture content, melting point, characterization point and refractive index.