Dados do Trabalho

Título

COCOA LIQUOR OBTAINED FROM DISEASED AND ROTTEN COCOA BEANS: IMPACTS ON THE MACRONUTRIENT COMPOSITION

Introdução

Cocoa liquor is the base ingredient in chocolate production, obtained by grinding fermented and dried cocoa beans. However, cocoa tree diseases (witches' broom and black pod) and damage (mechanical or insect) that lead to fruit rot significantly affect the quality of cocoa beans and their products, in this case, the liquor. This study aimed to understand the behavior of cocoa liquor derived from healthy seeds (LH), diseased seeds (LD), and rotten seeds (LR) regarding protein, sugar, and lipid content.

Material e Métodos

Protein content (Lucas, Sotelo, 1980) and sugar composition, including sucrose, glucose, and fructose (AOAC, 2016), were analyzed by chromatography. Lipid content was assessed using Ankom (AOCS, 2017).

Resultados e Discussão

Protein content showed minimal variation between samples, with LD exhibiting a slightly higher concentration (15.09%) compared to LH (14.35%) and LR (14.33%), suggesting that the seed health status has a limited impact on protein levels. The sugar profile, however, demonstrated notable differences, indicating significant metabolic alterations in damaged and rotten seeds. Sucrose was highest in LD (1.20±0.02%), possibly due to inhibition of sucrose metabolism in diseased seeds. LR contained no detectable sucrose, likely due to higher degradation during rotting. Glucose was most abundant in LH (0.74±0.02%), with traces in LD (0.12±0.00%) and LR having no glucose, suggesting altered carbohydrate metabolism in damaged seeds. Fructose levels were highest in LH (2.80±0.06%), with significant reductions in LR and LD, further supporting the hypothesis of disrupted sugar metabolism in damaged seeds. Lipid content varied significantly, with LD having the highest concentration (53.26±1.66%). The high lipid content in LD may be a response to disease stress, while the reduced lipid content in LR likely results from degradation processes during rotting.

Conclusão

This study reveals that the health status of the seeds significantly influences the macronutrient composition of cocoa liquor, particularly in terms of sugar and lipid content. Damaged seeds produced liquor with higher sucrose and lipid content, while rotten seeds resulted in liquor with depleted sugar levels and reduced lipid content.