October, 2021

March, 2023

Use and development of food products from fruit and vegetables

Food

Ing. Diego Túarez García M.Sc. - Director
Ing. Cyntia Erazo Solórzano, M.Sc.
Ing. Yenny Torres Navarrete, PhD.
Dr. José Manuel Moreno Rojas
Dra. Maria Gema Pereira Caro
Dra. Raquel Rodríguez Solana

dtuarez@uteq.edu.ec

$ 6500

In progress

Cocoa cultivation in the Coast, East and part of the Ecuadorian highlands is growing rapidly, which has led farmers and intermediaries to develop post-harvest techniques that benefit the conditioning of the bean, which, when carried out in a controlled manner, allows the agents that are precursors to the quality of the bean to be preserved and enhanced, and in this way satisfy the tastes, flavours and preferences of consumers.

Post-harvest processes, fermentation, drying, storage and transport of the cocoa bean, as well as industrial processes (roasting, grinding) to produce chocolate, can negatively affect the quality of the cocoa bean by reducing the content of free and soluble polyphenols.

To determine the appropriate method of conditioning, it is necessary to assess the physical characteristics, such as the percentage of moisture in the bean, weight, shell thickness, external and visual presentation of the bean, as well as the chemical characteristics such as fat and sugar content, pigmentation of the cotyledons and molecules responsible for flavour and aroma, such as phenols and volatiles, among others. All these variables are evaluated at the conditioning stage.

In addition, these components allow establishing the viability of the process used. The samples are subjected to several analytical tests, which allow the quantification, discrimination of types of bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity, compounds responsible for participating in various functions, such as the assimilation of nutrients, protein synthesis, formation of structural components, among others, and identification and quantification of the broad profile of volatile compounds.

The objective of the research is to determine the physical and chemical characteristics at the grain conditioning stage, as well as to quantify the polyphenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity of cocoa beans subjected to pre-drying treatment prior to fermentation.