Impact of a Microbial Cocktail Used as a Starter Culture on Cocoa Fermentation and Chocolate Flavor

Abstract

Chocolate production suffered a vast impact with the emergence of the “witches’ broom” disease in cocoa plants. To recover cocoa production, many disease-resistant hybrid plants have been developed. However, some different cocoa hybrids produce cocoa beans that generate chocolate with variable quality. Fermentation of cocoa beans is a microbiological process that can be applied for the production of chocolate flavor precursors, leading to overcoming the problem of variable chocolate quality. The aim of this work was to use a cocktail of microorganisms as a starter culture on the fermentation of the ripe cocoa pods from PH15 cocoa hybrid, and evaluate its influence on the microbial communities present on the fermentative process on the compounds involved during the fermentation, and to perform the chocolate sensorial characterization. According to the results obtained, different volatile compounds were identified in fermented beans and in the chocolate produced. Bitterness was the dominant taste found in non-inoculated chocolate, while chocolate made with inoculated beans showed bitter, sweet, and cocoa tastes. 2,3-Butanediol and 2,3-dimethylpyrazine were considered as volatile compounds making the difference on the flavor of both chocolates. Saccharomyces cerevisiae UFLA CCMA 0200, Lactobacillus plantarum CCMA 0238, and Acetobacter pasteurianus CCMA 0241 are proposed as starter cultures for cocoa fermentation.

Fine Resolution Analysis of Microbial Communities Provides Insights Into the Variability of Cocoa Bean Fermentation

“…The oligotype detection can be implemented to select, monitor and validate the inoculation of specific microorganisms to modulate and improve chocolate quality. Some of the microorganisms we observed in our study have been suggest as microbial starters (Schwan, 1998;Papalexandratou et al, 2013;Magalhães da Veiga Moreira et al, 2017), such as Acetobacter pasteurianus and Lactobacillus fermentum (Papalexandratou et al, 2013;Illeghems et al, 2016), additionally, some of the yeasts groups (Hanseniaspora opuntiae and Picha sp.) have been reported in the fermentation process from other countries (Schwan et al, 2014) and some have been used as culture starter (Batista et al, 2016).…”

“…In these farms, we evaluated the fine level diversity of the microbial communities throughout the fermentation process and establish their dynamics and its relationship with geographic location, climate, and fermentation protocols. Such understanding has important implications for the improvement of fermentation technologies, the optimization of protocols and might be relevant to monitor and selection of potential starter cultures (Kongor et al, 2016;Magalhães da Veiga Moreira et al, 2017;Ozturk and Young, 2017).…”

Fine Grained Longitudinal Analysis of Cocoa Bean Fermentation Provides Insights Into the Dynamics of Microbial Populations

“…The strains detection can be implemented to select, monitor and validate inoculation of specific strains to modulate and improve chocolate quality. Some of the microorganisms we observed in our study have been suggest as microbial starters (21, 33, 43), such as, Acetobacter pasteurianus and Lactobacillus fermentum (7, 33), additionally, some of the yeast groups ( Hanseniaspora opuntiae and Picha sp.) have been reported in the fermentation process from other countries (6) and some have been used as culture starter (44).…”

“…Furthermore, we study the dynamics of the microbial community involved in the process of fermentation and the effect of protocols, the levels of inter-connectivity of the community with the tools employed during the fermentation process and the patterns of intra-specific diversity and its relationship with geographic location and/or fermentation protocols. Such understanding has important implications in the improvement of fermentation technologies, the optimization of protocols and might be relevant to monitor and select potential starter cultures (3, 4, 21).…”

Key Aroma Compounds of Dark Chocolates Differing in Organoleptic Properties: A GC-O Comparative Study

“…Moreover, 13 key odorants were described for the first time in a cocoa product.Molecules 2020, 25, 1809 2 of 32 Thus, quality attributes of dark chocolate produced from Vietnamese cocoa were recently investigated [2], as well as the influence of the cocoa variety on the fermentation step studied [3][4][5], influence of the cocoa origin on the cocoa flavor examined [6][7][8][9], and the link between the origin and process searched for [10]. The process, starting with fermentation [11][12][13][14][15][16] and followed by drying [17] and roasting [18][19][20][21][22][23] steps, has been the subject of many studies. Specialized reviews and treatises gathered such knowledge [1,[24][25][26].Among these investigations, studies aiming to identify the only aroma-active compounds in dark chocolate (the dark chocolate key aroma compounds) are scarce.…”