Spatial Distribution of Cocoa Quality: Relationship between Physicochemical, Functional and Sensory Attributes of Clones from Southern Colombia

Abstract

Cocoa quality is affected by genetic variability and conditions in the region of origin that impact the physicochemical, functional and sensory characteristics of the cocoa bean. For the purpose of this study, the spatial distribution was analyzed using a cocoa quality indicator that related physicochemical, functional variables (phenolic and antioxidant content) and sensory attributes (organoleptic qualities and sensory notes) of cocoa samples from different cocoa clones in the municipalities of Mesetas and Vista Hermosa in the department of Meta, Colombia. In 83 sampling plots distributed in 22 farms with agroforestry cocoa arrangements, 50 pods of the main clone were selected in each plot. Subsequently, the cocoa bean samples were subjected to fermentation and drying processes using a uniform process, then each of the samples was subjected to physicochemical, functional and sensory properties. A medium quality level was found in the cocoa beans that depended on genetic variability, whose properties ranged between protein levels of 10.312%, sugars of 2.7–3.7 °Brix, and fat contents of 51.5–52.2%, with 178.4–235.2 mg GAE g−1 in total phenol content and 1208.1–3464.1 μmol AAE g−1 in antioxidant capacity. Clones TSH-565 and FEAR-5 showed respectively higher and lower grain quality. Within the sensory profile, complementary aromatic notes such as floral, fruity, nutty, malty, with high correlations between acidity and fresh fruit, astringency and cocoa, and astringency and bitterness, were found. At the clone level, ICS-95 and TSH-565 presented the best sensory attributes (floral, sweet, acidity, fresh fruit). According to the physicochemical, functional and sensory variables of the cocoa beans, it was found that only 13% of the samples presented values higher than 0.8 in the cocoa quality index, with notes of banana, melon, peach, plum, and fresh fruit related to clones such as TSH-565 and ICS-95, whose notes are considered high-quality; these cocoa plantations are located in the Palestina village in the municipality of Vistahermosa and in the Las Mercedes village in the municipality of Mesetas.

Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity in Seeds of Bred Lines of Common Bean Developed from Interspecific Crosses

“…A correlation analysis was also performed using Pearson's test to determine the relationship between the different variables, the visualization of which was performed using a grid where the thickness of the line was considered the magnitude of the positive (blue) and negative (red) correlation. In order to determine the range of nutritional quality of the 112 bean genotypes evaluated, an indicator was proposed that had the capacity to express nutritional quality (NQI) [41]. The NQI is obtained from the transformation of each of the variables ranging from 0 (minimum) to 1 (maximum) under the criteria of the following: (i) more is better, suitable for standardizing the scores of the properties of the bean genotypes which were associated with values close to one (1); (ii) less is worse, those properties whose values were close to zero (0), an approach that has been used in other studies.…”

Influence of Fermentation Time on the Chemical and Functional Composition of Different Cocoa Clones from Southern Colombia

“…Subsequently, a principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to determine the multivariate relationships between the variables evaluated and the cocoa clones during the fermentation process [33]. In order to be able to assess the chemical quality of cocoa, an indicator was generated [23], which was constructed by transforming the values of each of the variables of the three components (Table 2) into scores with values from 0 to 1, using a standardized scoring function, under the criteria: I. More is better, suitable for standardizing the scores of cocoa properties (indicators) in cocoa quality, associated with values close to one (1), II.…”

“…After this process, the grains of each sample were subjected to the drying process by exposure to the sun until reaching between 7 and 8% moisture [22]. Subsequently, the grains were roasted in a ROASTY model oven, of which the drying was programmed with a development time of 15 min with initial and final temperatures of 80 and 120 • C, respectively [23]. Finally, the husk of the mass was removed manually, and the beans were ground manually to obtain the cocoa nibs.…”

“…The total phenol content coincides with that reported by Zapata et al [50], with values ranging from 21.69 to 38.64 mg g −1 in unfermented grains and from 22.58 to 50.23 mg g −1 in fermented grains, for clones such as CCN-51, ICS-1, ICS-60, ICS-95 and TSH-565. In addition, the variability of the results obtained may be due to the characteristics of each clone, since according to Ramón et al [23] and Zapata et al [11] there are internal and external factors that affect the quality and quantity of phenolic compounds in plants, such as genetic diversity, maturity stage, environmental variables, extraction method, processing and storage. On the other hand, the content of total phenols although not significant, presented higher values during the first days, this is mainly due to the formation of polymeric proanthocyanidins during this process since these are equivalent to 58% of the total phenols in the cocoa bean [50].…”

Effect of Supplementation with Coffee and Cocoa By-Products to Ameliorate Metabolic Syndrome Alterations Induced by High-Fat Diet in Female Mice

“…Coffee and cocoa manufacturing are among the largest food industries, also producing massive amounts of waste. According to the International Coffee Organization, about 171.3 million 60 Kg bags of coffee beans are estimated to be produced in 2023, and global cocoa production is around 5 million tons annually [23,24]. In the forthcoming years, an increasing trend is expected due to the rising of consumer' demands, and, consequently, their waste products will also go up.…”