Impact of soils and cropping systems on biochemical attributes of dry cacao beans. In: Agrotrópica v. 30 p. 175-194, 2018.

Abstract

In the present technological context, the identification of substances that contribute to the quality of dry cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) beans is as important as the agricultural practices and processing of cacao beans for food safety and marketing. The objective of this study was investigating the influence of cropping sites, represented by different soils (Argisols, Cambisols and Latosols) and cropping systems (cacao cabruca agroforestry system, cacao tree shaded with erythrina tree, agroforestry system of cacao tree with rubber tree) on biochemical attributes of dry cacao beans of PH-16 clone, in the humid zone of cacao growing region of Bahia, Brazil. The average contents of dry cacao bean attributes total acidity, simple carbohydrates (sucrose, fructose and glucose), theobromine and epicatechin have varied according to the different cropping sites. For these attributes, the cropping site that correspond to typic Dystrophic Red-Yellow Latosol in the agroforestry system of cacao tree with rubber tree (400 trees ha-1) showed the best quality characteristics in dry cacao beans. In contrast, the cropping site that correspond to the abrupt Dystrophic Red-Yellow Argisol in the cacao cabruca agroforestry system (60 shade trees ha-1) showed the worst performance relative to these same cacao beans quality indicators.