Unfermented Cocoa Beans

The fat (cocoa butter) of the cocoa beans is important for chocolate production, as it wDl give chocolate its characteristic texture and mouthfeel, depending on the hardness and melting and solidification (crystallization) behavior of the fat (Asep et al. 2008 Beckett 2009 Afoakwa 2010). Fat makes up slightly more than 50% of the mass of dry unfermented cocoa bean cotyledons Forastero beans possess a higher fat content than Criollo beans. The cocoa butter present in the cocoa beans is 

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Bhattacharya A, Sood P, Citovsky V (2010) The roles of plant phenolics in defence and communication during Agrobacterium and Rhizobium infection. Mol Plant Pathol 11 705-719 Kim H, Keeney PG (1984) (-)-Epicatechin content in fermented and unfermented cocoa beans. J Food Sci 49 1090-1092... 

Kim H, Keeney PG (1984) (-)-Epicatechin content in fermented and unfermented cocoa beans. J Food Sci 49 1090-1092... 

A more complex flavor development occurs in the production of chocolate. The chocolate beans are first fermented to develop fewer complex flavor precursors upon roasting, these give the chocolate aroma. The beans from unfermented cocoa do not develop the chocolate notes (84—88) (see Chocolate and cocoa). The flavor development process with vanilla beans also allows for the formation of flavor precursors. The green vanilla beans, which have Htfle aroma or flavor, are scalded, removed, and allowed to perspire, which lowers the moisture content and retards the enzymatic activity. This process results in the formation of the vanilla aroma and flavor, and the dark-colored beans that after drying are the product of commerce. 

Fermentation (Curing). Prior to shipment from producing countries, most cocoa beans undergo a process known as curing, fermenting, or sweating. These terms are used rather loosely to describe a procedure in which seeds are removed from the pods, fermented, and dried. Unfermented beans, particularly from Haiti and the Dominican RepubHc, are used in the United States. 

With the death of the bean, cellular structure is lost, allowing the mixing of water-soluble components that normally would not come into contact with each other. The complex chemistry that occurs during fermentation is not fully understood, but certain cocoa enzymes such as glycosidase, protease, and polyphenol oxidase are active. In general, proteins are hydrolyzed to smaller proteins and amino acids, complex glycosides are split, polyphenols are partially transformed, sugars are hydrolyzed, volatile acids are formed, and purine alkaloids diffuse into the bean shell. The chemical composition of both unfermented and fermented cocoa beans is compared in Table 1. 

Jinap Selamat M, Bakar J, Saari N (2002) Oxidation of polyphenols in unfermented and partly fermented cocoa beans by cocoa polyphenol oxidase and tyrosinase. J Sci Food Agric 82 559-566... 

Hansen, C.E., Manez, A., Burri, C. and Bousbaine, A. (2000) Comparison of enzyme activities involved in flavor precursor formation in unfermented beans of different cocoa genotypes. J Sci Food Agric 80, 1193-1198. 

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