Origin tracing of cacao beans in regions IX and XI of the Philippines through multi-element profiling using pXRF

• Main Authors: Pineda, Madel Manabat, Rojas, Joelle Ivane Barreto
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2022
• Subjects: Cacao > Philippines; Cacao beans > Philippines; Chemistry
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdb_chem/11; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=etdb_chem
• Institution: De La Salle University

Cacao is one of the highly valued commodity products growing in tropical areas. Its seed is used to produce chocolates, cocoa butter, and other cocoa products. Due to its increasing demand, there is a need to establish its origin and traceability. Thus, this paper aims to identify the multi-elemental fingerprints of cacao beans from Regions IX and XI of the Philippines using a portable ED-XRF (pXRF) for origin traceability. To observe the reliability of pXRF, 4 plant standards were used. Results showed that there is no significant difference between the corrected measured values and the certified values of the 11 elements found. Sixteen cacao bean samples from Regions IX and XI were dried in an oven for 24 hours at 60⁰C and then grounded and pulverized. The powdered samples were pelletized and then analyzed using a pXRF. The obtained multi-element profile was evaluated using Random Forest. Data showed that there are 43 elements, namely Al, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Te, Ba, La, Ce, Hf, Ta, W, Pt, Au, Tl, Th, and U, present in the cacao samples in major, minor and trace amounts. These 43 elements were used as parameters to classify the cacao beans according to their region, showing an accuracy of 97.92%. Therefore, pXRF analysis is a step towards creating a fast, multi-elemental, and green traceability system for Philippine cacao.