EVALUATION OF THE VOLATILE COMPOSITION, TOXICOLOGICAL AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIALS OF THE ESSENTIAL OILS AND TEAS PRODUCED FROM THE HUSKS OF COCOA ALMONDS

The cocoa almond husk is considered a by-product of the cocoa industry and is treated as waste. From these husks it is possible to produce an aromatic tea. The aim of this work was to determine the chemical composition of the essential oils (volatile fraction) produced from the almond husks of Bahia (BA) and Pará (PA) cocoa. The total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), antioxidant capacity (AC) and toxicity of the infusions produced from these husks were also evaluated. Essential oils were isolated by hydrodistillation (100oC, 4 hours) and its components were analyzed by GC/MS techniques. Teas (0.01g/mL) were prepared with boiling water (five minutes). These infusions were properly diluted and the following parameters were evaluated: TPC (Folin-Ciocalteu), TFC (AlCl3), AC (DPPH assay), and toxicity (Artemia salina bioassay). Only the tetradecanoic acid [BA: (1.61 ± 0.12)%; PA: (1.78 ± 0.78)%], n-hexadecanoic acid [BA: (24.27 ± 8.00)%; PA: (35.91 ± 2.04)%], ethyl tetradecanoate [BA: (0.24 ± 0.01)%; PA: (0.75 ± 0.81)%] and methyl oleate [BA: (0.11 ± 0.01)%; PA: (0.68 ± 0.66)%] were detected in all samples analyzed. The diversity of compounds of different chemical classes was high in the samples from both origins (BA and PA). Compounds like 2,6-dimethylpyrazine and 2-ethyl-5-methyl-pirazine are probably produced during the roasting of the seeds. The infusions showed a moderate antioxidant potential [IC50BA(DPPH) = (838.72 ± 339.13)μg/mL; IC50PA(DPPH) = (1235.35 ± 635.96)μg/mL] highly correlated (BA: r = -0.920; PA: r = -0.987) with its TPC [BA: (33.40 ± 2.19) mg GAE/g of sample; PA: (26.70 ± 12.83) mg GAE/g]. The TFC of the BA infusions [(25.41 ± 2.17) mg Rutin/g of sample] was not statistically different from that of PA infusions [(22.34 ± 15.39) mg Rutin/g]. All infusions were classified as non-toxic (Bahia: LD50 = 6789 ppm, Pará: LD50 = 1496 ppm).