Roasting is one of the important unit operation steps in cocoa base food industries. Cocoa beans (Theobroma cacao) were roasted using superheated steam oven (Healsio, AV-1500V, SHARP) in superheated steam mode and convection mode operated at three set of temperatures (150℃, 200℃ and 250℃) for 5 to 35 min. The changes occurred in the physical properties; colors, texture (hardness and fracturability), moisture content and heat inside the beans were examined at the same temperature and time. During superheated steam roasting the color values were more affected than convection roasting. Hardness of the cocoa beans were more affected by the convection roasting mode as compared to superheated steam while fracturability values were more affected in superheated steam mode as compared to convection roasting .The moisture losses of the cocoa beans were lower at each temperature in superheated steam roasting as compared to convection roasting whereas the heating rate inside cocoa beans was higher in superheated steam.Keywords: cocoa bean, superheated steam, convection, roasting, color, texture and moisture *To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: taris@usm.my
IntroductionThe cocoa is taxonomically classified under the family of Sterculiaceae under the order of Malvales and it belongs to the genus Theobroma. The cocoa bean are the seed from the fruit Theobroma cacao tree which is the essential ingredient of chocolate and chocolate base products obtained from cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, cocoa powder and cocoa cake (Krysiak, 2011). The cocoa beans are rich in history because of its good flavor and aroma. The Aztecs of Central America and the Mayan Indians considered the cocoa to be a valuable bean and believed the cocoa tree to be of divine origin, hence the name of 'Theobroma' meaning 'food of the gods' (Minifie, 1989). The most important technological unit operation in the processing of cocoa beans is roasting which develop characteristic favor and brown color and texture of roasted beans. In addition, excess moisture is driven off early in this stage of processing and the heat treatment also serves to loosen the shell when whole beans are roasted (Krysiak and Motyl-Patelska, 2006). The most commonly used method of thermal processing of raw cocoa beans is convection roasting method (Świechowski, 1996;Nebesny and Rutkowski, 1998). Roasting intensity of cocoa beans varies from 150℃ to 250℃ for 30 to 120 min depending on the color, flavor, texture and application desired (Ramli et al., 2006). A number of drawbacks have been reported on convection roasting because of traditional ways of heat and energy transfer. This heat treatment process takes too long and may contribute increased bitterness of bean and loss of aroma. It can bring an undesirable burned flavor and odors coming from bean (Świechowski, 1996). The temperature difference from 10 to 12℃ between the kernel and the husk of cocoa beans is also disadvantages of this method. In this traditional convection roasting of cocoa bean, another major demerit is to t...