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Characteristics of cocoa butter and chocolates obtained from cocoa varieties grown in Bahia, Brazil

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Abstract

Due to the attack of cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) plants by the fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa which caused witches’ broom disease in the state of Bahia, Brazil, resistant clonal material with elevated productivity and superior physical characteristics has been selected for use in the genetic improvement program and by the cocoa producers themselves. The present study aimed to characterize the cocoa butter and chocolates produced from nine cacao varieties and also from the Amelonado cacao produced in the same region (denominated as Common), with a view to quality improvement. The cocoa butter was characterized for its solid fat content and triacylglycerol composition, and the chocolates for their moisture and protein contents, maximum particle diameter, pH value, acidity, rheological properties and instrumental texture, as well as a sensory test for acceptability with 50 consumers. A relationship was found between the triacylglycerol composition and solid fat curves of the cocoa butters and the instrumental texture of the chocolates, the highest values for the latter parameter being observed for the varieties with greater amounts of symmetrical triacylglycerols and greater solid fat contents at the temperatures evaluated. From a sensory point of view, it was shown that overall acceptance and buying intention were mainly determined by the attributes of “astringency,” “bitterness,” “acidity” and “chocolate flavor.” It was also shown that chocolates produced from varieties descendent from the Trinitario group were differentiated from those descendent from the Forastero group, showing the preference of consumers for these materials and the possibility of a gain in quality in the genetic improvement of cacao by including varieties descended from the Trinitario and Criollo groups in the crossing programs, associating disease resistance with product quality.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES—Brazil) for the fellowship awarded to the first author and CEPLAC (Comissão Executiva para o Plano da Lavoura Cacaueira) for the vegetal material.

Conflict of interest

None.

Compliance with Ethics Requirements

Considering the sensory analysis performed in the article, we declare that all procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. All of the consumers recruited for the sensory analysis were informed and signed a term of consent for being included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Food Engineering, University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

    Priscilla Efraim, Renato Grimaldi & Nelson H. Pezoa-Garcia

  2. Comissão Executiva de Planejamento da Lavoura Cacaueira (CEPLAC), Itabuna, Bahia, Brazil

    José Luis Pires

  3. Food Technology Institute, ITAL, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

    Aline de Oliveira Garcia & Valdecir Luccas

Authors
  1. Priscilla Efraim
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  2. José Luis Pires
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  3. Aline de Oliveira Garcia
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  4. Renato Grimaldi
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  5. Valdecir Luccas
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  6. Nelson H. Pezoa-Garcia
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Correspondence to Priscilla Efraim.

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Efraim, P., Pires, J.L., Garcia, A.O. et al. Characteristics of cocoa butter and chocolates obtained from cocoa varieties grown in Bahia, Brazil. Eur Food Res Technol 237, 419–428 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-013-2006-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-013-2006-x

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