Determinación del efecto en diferentes niveles de fermentación del cacao nacional, para la optimización del proceso de elaboración del chocolate

Abstract

Chocolate is produced from cocoa beans that undergo several processes, such as fermentation, drying, roasting, conching and tempering. The fermentation process is essential for the degradation of the mucilage due to the production of ethanol that kills the cotyledons of the cocoa beans, and the production of different organic acids and important volatile compounds that diffuse inside the bean and react with substances responsible for the flavor during the roasting process. According to reports of the International Cocoa Organization, Latin America is the main exporting region of fine or flavor cocoa, countries such as Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Peru are the main exporters of fine or flavor cocoa in terms of volume. The present research work was carried out with the purpose of evaluating the different levels of fermentation in cocoa of the national variety to establish the optimal parameters during fermentation and improve the organoleptic characteristics of the chocolate, obtaining a quality product. The influence of temperature and fermentation time on the content of total polyphenols was studied using the methodology of a factorial design of 3 levels: 3 ^ 2, in turn, the analysis of variance performed on the samples of cocoa liquor, shows that the factor that exerts a statistically significant influence (p > 0.05) on the reduction of total polyphenol content is the fermentation time, with a 95% confidence level. The descriptive method was used for the sensory analysis by means of a flavor profile.