Investigating the flavor compounds in the cocoa powder production process

Abstract

Flavor is one of the most important quality properties of cacao beans, playing a key role in the admissibility of cocoa products, such as cocoa powder. This study examined the industrial processes influencing the flavor of cacao beans. The Ivory Coast cacao beans were used after their alkaline treatment with potassium carbonate (up to pH 7.5–8) and being roasted at 115–120°C for 60–70 min. The volatile components were extracted using Likens–Nickerson simultaneous distillation–extraction (SDE) apparatus. The volatile compound profiles were identified by means of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), as a result of which several compounds (alcohols, carboxylic acids, aldehydes, ketones, esters, and pyrazines) were recognized. Alkalization and roasting were shown to be two important steps in the cacao beans processing that can affect the final cocoa powder flavor. In addition, pyrazines and esters were two major groups of flavor compounds formed during the roasting stage by the Maillard reaction. The percentage of 2,3,5,6‐tetramethylpyrazine was detected in the cacao beans equal to 0.5%. After the liquor pressing stage, tetramethylpyrazine increased to its highest amount (3%) in cocoa powder. It was found that the cocoa powder contained 2.69% of tetramethylpyrazine, 3.22% isobutyl benzoate, and 1.38% linalool. The highest percentage of increase in the mean amounts of 2,3,5,6‐tetramethylpyrazine, isobutyl benzoate, and linalool were observed in the roasting stage, after which the percentages diminished.

Volatile Variation of Theobroma cacao Malvaceae L. Beans Cultivated in Taiwan Affected by Processing via Fermentation and Roasting

“…Cocoa, a significant agricultural commodity and a cash product of great economic importance in the world, is utilized as the crucial raw material for chocolate and cocoa powder manufacturing [ 1 ]. Specifically, the term ‘cacao’ indicates the raw cacao beans or trees, while the term ‘cocoa’ denotes the processed product cocoa or chocolates, however, the two terms have been used interchangeably in many countries, in particular Brazil and Spain [ 1 ].…”

“…Cocoa, a significant agricultural commodity and a cash product of great economic importance in the world, is utilized as the crucial raw material for chocolate and cocoa powder manufacturing [ 1 ]. Specifically, the term ‘cacao’ indicates the raw cacao beans or trees, while the term ‘cocoa’ denotes the processed product cocoa or chocolates, however, the two terms have been used interchangeably in many countries, in particular Brazil and Spain [ 1 ]. The genus Theobroma contains 22 species classified into six sections, most native to the upper Amazon region in South America [ 2 ], whereas only T. cacao L. and T. grandiflorum (cupuassu) are explored commercially on a large scale.…”

“…After harvested, the cacao beans are usually subjected to very complex processes in order to improve their chemical and physical characteristics, like mouthfeel of chocolate characteristic flavors [ 5 , 6 ]. The traditional process consists of three major processing stages: fermentation, drying, and roasting [ 1 , 7 ]. Curing involves fermentation of the fresh cacao bean pulp mass, followed by drying of the fermented cocoa beans and subsequent roasting of the fermented dry cacao beans.…”

Selected Instrumental Techniques Applied in Food and Feed: Quality, Safety and Adulteration Analysis

“…The authors demonstrated that aroma and protein (as per matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight [MALDI-TOF] MS) profiling could be used as a crop genetic improvement parameter. Alasti and coworkers [ 305 ] performed extensive research that focused on the effect of processing in cocoa powder production (i.e., n = 5 steps were monitored for volatile compound content: Raw ingredients, alkalinization, roasting, milling, pressing, and the product). Among the compounds identified, 2,3,5,6-tetramethylpyrazine increased almost tenfold from the cocoa beans to the powder.…”

Effects of time and temperature during melanging on the volatile profile of dark chocolate

“…As flavor traits may be influenced by volatile chemistry, there were data taken and analyzed from four time points to evaluate the samples: 0-h, 8-h, 16-h, and 24-h. Data were evaluated to determine if trends of metabolite classes could distinguish the profiles of the chocolate masses at each time point, specifically, for lipids (to include fatty acid ester formation), Maillard reaction products (MRPs), organic acids (and their esters, which are known to be formed during thermal processing of chocolate 34 ), aldehydes, ketones, and terpenes. Metabolite abundances were shown as a Log 2 Fold Change to express the data as a profile within a sample.…”