Influence of under-fermented cocoa mass in chocolate production: Sensory acceptance and volatile profile characterization during the processing

Abstract

Under-fermented cocoa mass (UCM) presents, as well as the fresh cocoa seed, a high content of phenolics compounds. For this reason, a chocolate with UCM added to the fermented cocoa mass (FCM) was developed. The sensory quality of chocolate is broadly determined by the composition of volatile compounds resulted from microbial metabolism during fermentation and Maillard reactions, that occur during drying, roasting, and conching. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of adding UCM (20%–80%) to the FCM on the sensory characteristics of the chocolates produced and their volatile profiles during the process chain. The UCM and FCM were obtained through fermentation (48 h and 144 h, respectively), drying, roasting, and grinding processes. In general, the chocolate samples with a higher content of UCM presented lower scores for flavor acceptance, due to their higher bitterness and astringency. The great acceptance was observed on samples with 80% and 65% of FCM. A total of 55 different volatile compounds were identified by HS-SPME-GC-MS. The PCA analyses showed that the profile of the volatile compounds in the chocolate samples was influenced by the fermentation process, as well as the chocolate quality (flowery, honey, fruit, roasted, and chocolate flavors).