Sensory Considerations Generated by Biochemical Changes during the Fermentation of the Cocoa Almond

Abstract

Cocoa is a crop of great economic importance all over the world, it is from this that the main raw material for the production of chocolate and other confectionery products is obtained, as well as other by-products such as pasta, butter, cocoa powder and liquor. Fermentation is carried out during the post-harvest of cocoa, it is the most important operation in the cocoa benefit, there the sensory attributes and physicochemical and biochemical quality characteristics of the cocoa almond are defined. This work presents an analysis of the changes in the physicochemical and biochemical characteristics of the cocoa almond generated by the effect of the fermentation process that determine the components of the sui generis flavor and aroma of chocolate. For the above, a bibliographic review of publications made between 2000 and 2021 was carried out. Present in the Scopus, ScienceDirect, Springer, ResearchGate, SciELO, Dialnet and Redalyc databases. The keywords used as search criteria in English and Spanish were: cocoa, cocoa beans, cocoa bean fermentation, chemical quality of cocoa. 200 documents were collected including review articles, research articles, mainly master's and doctoral theses and technical manuals. The reviewed publications report significant information about the microorganisms involved in cocoa fermentation, effects of fermentation on the pH of the cocoa bean, the physicochemical characteristics, the content of organic acids, the content of fat, sugars and proteins of the cocoa bean; the content of polyphenols and methylxanthines and the volatile compounds of the cocoa bean. Among the main conclusions are that the pH of the grain affects the biochemical reactions that form the flavor components such as free amino acids and peptides, among others. The total fat remains stable during fermentation, the sugar content of cocoa beans is affected by the fermentation process. The amount of proteins decreases during the fermentation time for all evaluated hybrids. During fermentation, the concentration of polyphenols is reduced because they are oxidized and polymerized to insoluble tannins of high molecular weight, this is why the bitter and astringent taste is reduced. The fermentation process and the varieties influence the volatile compounds and also determine the aromatic quality of the cocoa.