PENGARUH TINGKAT SUBSTITUSI MOLSES TERHADAP KARAKTERISTIK FISIKOKIMIA DAN SENYAWA BIOAKTIF KOMBUCHA KULIT ARI BIJI KAKAO (Theobroma cacao L.)

Cocoa bean husk (Theobroma cacao L.) has the potential to be utilized as a substrate for kombucha production due to its rich content of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and natural antioxidants. Molasses serves as an alternative carbon
source that can support the fermentation process. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of molasses substitution on the physicochemical and bioactive characteristics of cocoa bean husk kombucha. The experiment was conducted using a single-factor
Randomized Complete Block Design with six levels of molasses substitution (0–100%). The results showed that molasses substitution significantly affected (p<0.05) pH, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, antioxidant activity, and lightness (L). Increasing the proportion of molasses increased the total phenolic content from 26.40 to 252.73 mg GAE/100 mL and the total flavonoid content from 77.77 to 227.43 mg QE/100 mL, while decreasing the pH from 3.36 to 3.17 and antioxidant activity from 90.22% to 74.82%. These findings indicate that molasses has the potential to serve as an alternative carbon source in cocoa bean
husk kombucha fermentation