High purity cocoa seeks for new markets

Photo: Professor and Research Author Jhony Benavides, PhD Soil Sciencie. Credit: Faculty of Engineering Communications Office

Researchers from several universities conducted a study sought to determine the levels of cadmium, a heavy metal toxic for human consumption, in cocoa plantations. The study was conducted in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in 30 farms. The results could influence the way small and medium-sized growers trade this product.

An opportunity for further cocoa research

Although the quality of cocoa grown in Colombia and Latin America is known to be among the best in the world, the existence of level of cadmium, a heavy metal that is toxic for human consumption, in these crops has closed the doors to the foreign markets located in Europe, preventing this product from reaching markets with high demand.

For this reason, researchers such as Mark Guiltian and Siela Maximova of the University of Pennsylvania, in partnership with organizations such as USAID and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), launched the “Cacao for Peace” program.

As a result of this project, several researchers were invited to pursue graduate studies related to the subject. Jhony Benavides, a graduate of the Universidad del Valle in Agricultural Engineering and who was part of the ILAMA research group for years, was one of them. It was 2017 when Benavides obtained a Fullbright Scholarship for Agricultural and Rural Development, under the USAID project, which allowed him to study his master’s degree -and eventually his PhD- at the University of Pennsylvania, under the direction of professor and researcher Patrick Drohan.

“The idea of this project was to take four Colombians -that was the first cohort-, from different specialties in agriculture to promote the cultivation of cocoa in Colombia and above all to try to find solutions to a huge problem that exists in Colombia and Latin America”, says Professor Benavides, clarifying that this problem has to do with the existence of cadmium in the plantations, which occurs naturally in the continent given how susceptible this crop is to the presence of this heavy metal.

“You have your cocoa in a soil that has cadmium, which can be natural or added for different reasons, and the plant is going to absorb the cadmium and transport it to its entire structure, including the cocoa beans”, Benavides explains, adding that this becomes a problem due to restrictions coming from Europe, which is closing the door to a cocoa whose quality, he says, places it withing the top 5% in the world.

The study and its findings

The study, then, was conducted from the months of March and April 2019, with a team made up of professionals from different parts of the world, including Daniel Guarín, Javier Martín-López, Zamir Libohova, Siela Maximova, Mark Guiltian, John Spargo, Mayesse da Silva and Alejandro Fernández. The result was published in February 2024 in the journal Geoderma Regional, Pennsylvania State University. 30 farmers were the object of the study, where some of the researchers were for a week to collect samples that would be sent to a laboratory in the United States.

“I provided support, from my perspective as a soil scientist and from the experience I had in the master’s program, throughout the writing and validation of the data”, recalls Professor Benavides, although he clarifies that the research process and analysis of the results involved the knowledge of all the researchers.

The results showed that, on average, in the northern Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta there are low concentrations of cadmium in the soil, although there was something that worried them: a lot of cadmium was found in the leaves of the cocoa trees. According to Professor Benavides, this can be dangerous, because there is a cycle that favors the permanence of cadmium in the soil of the farms where the cocoa is planted: it is transferred from the residues of the leaves of the cocoa tree to the soil, where the plants absorb it again. “It is very difficult to break this cycle”, he says.

The study also showed that the absorption of cadmium by cocoa plants depends on the variety planted. Since Colombia is a country where the same type of cocoa is not grown in all areas, this fact has mobilized research aimed at determining which varieties are less susceptible to cadmium. These varieties were present in the study. “There is a very significant variety between each of the farms. The don’t all have the same concentrations. This is also very interesting, because you can’t generalize”, says Professor Benavides.

The future social impact

Thanks to the work previously done by professors Maximova and Guiltian, the relationship established from the beginning with the community was pleasant, which contributed to the research. “When it was decided to make this trip, the communities had already been given prior notice, they were told that we were going, they were socialized. It was not abrupt. There was prior work”, recalls Professor Benavides. The current awareness among cocoa growers about the problem of cadmium levels was another determining factor. Although the presence of the researchers was seen with discomfort at first, later the relationship was based on the acceptance that this was an excellent opportunity to open up to new perspectives, this time broader, on the phenomenon, which would make it possible to find a way out of the problem.

Although, because of this problem, the market in Europe remains potentially restricted for cocoa producers in Colombia and Latin America, Professor Benavides believes that the domestic market can become a viable option, which is worth exploring in the future. “I would think that, although there is a problem with the commercialization in Europe, it would also be necessary to think closer, as with a magnifying glass, because here in Colombia we really need cocoa”, he says, and explains that, although there are indeed such levels of cadmium in these plantations, the concentration in not enough to produce a dancer in the organism of those who consume it.

“To become intoxicated with cadmium present in Colombian or Latin American cocoa, one has to consume kilograms of that cocoa, and not even we, who are culturally accustomed to it”, are his words.

Studies such as this one demonstrate the potential of new markets for producers in Colombia and seek to look in detail all the characteristics of the products, to present them to the new markets and thus contribute to the welfare and growth of the national regional industry.

If interested in being in touch with the researcher or any further information about the cientific article published, please write the Faculty of Engineering Communications Office: comunicaingenieria@correounivalle.edu.co