EXTRACTION OF ETHANOL FROM CACAO (Theobroma cacao) ENDOCARP BY YEAST FERMENTATION AND DISTILLATION

     The study focused on ethanol extraction from cacao (Theobroma cacao) endocarp by yeast fermentation and distillation. This study aims to produce ethanol from cacao endocarp which is considered as agricultural waste.

     The study consisted of three treatments which varied in the length of fermentation, namely two (2), three (3), and four (4) weeks. Each treatment is composed of three replications. Each replication has a mixture of 250 mL of blended cacao endocarp, 750 mL of distilled water, and 20 g of yeast, Data on mass, volume, density, specific gravity, percent ethanol, ethanol volume, and flammability after the distillation process were gathered.

     Based on the results, the highest percent ethanol collected is treatment 3 which corresponds to the 4 weeks of fermentation period. In the data analyzed using One-way Analysis of Variance on a Complete Randomized Design, the results show that there is a significant difference at the 1% level of significance at mass, volume, density, and percentage ethanol in the length of fermentation. All the distillates flamed up and it has a bluish color.