Cadmium Levels in Soils and Cacao Beans at Estates with the Cacao Carenero PGI: Barlovento, Miranda State, Venezuela

In recent times, Venezuela has increased its cocoa exports. To overcome barriers to entering international markets in different countries, Venezuela must address several limitations, including the presence of heavy metals such as cadmium. Cadmium is a heavy metal toxic to human health that is present in immature soil, is absorbed by plants, and is accumulated in beans. The Miranda state soil has been marked as a potential cadmium carrier, despite being home to one of the world’s best cocoas, which is internationally recognized for use in the production of derivatives, such as chocolate. Therefore, this study aimed to provide a technical assessment of cadmium concentrations in soil and cocoa beans from PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) production units (farms) located in the Páez Municipality, subregion Barlovento, Miranda State, Venezuela. The results show that the soil cadmium concentration of the four farms ranged from 1.76 to 3.56 ppm (mg.kg-1) its data coincide with other values reported for soils in cocoa-producing areas in Venezuela. It has been reported that these soils are predominantly highly fertile, alluvial, and rich in organic matter, making them world-famous for cultivating premium Carenero cocoa beans. Cd concentration found in the beans with shell of the four farms which ranging from 0.58 to 0.79 ppm (mg/kg-1), which is good as compared to the reasonable and scientific maximum limit on raw beans must be 0.8-1.22 µg g−1 (ppm) pointed out by reports of literature, and lightly high than those used as common commercial reference standard of 0.6 mg/kg (ppm) in shelled cocoa beans. It is important to note that this difference could be due to the presence of the shell in the cocoa analyzed in this study, as supported by the fact that Cd accumulates better in the cocoa shell. Likewise, results also show that despite the low pH found in the soil of the region assayed, look like an interaction between low electrical conductivity and low pH in this region's soil could diminish cadmium root absorption by cocoa plants, showing a cadmium bean concentration adequate for consumption based on the concentration in the latest research in the literature.