Current context on chocolate flavor development — a review

doi:10.1016/j.cofs.2018.07.002

Current Opinion in Food Science

Volume 21, June 2018, Pages 84-91

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2018.07.002 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
More attention is being paid to the influence of genetic, agricultural and post-harvest practices on chocolate flavor development; this increases the interest in the application of the concept of terroir in chocolate products.
•
Development of novel methods of chocolate processing requires further optimization and potential industrial scale-up.
•
Development of cocoa butter equivalents (CBE) and their importance in chocolate formulation requires further investigation, related to impact on flavor development.
•
Current food trends related to the use of alternative ingredients, such as alternative sweeteners, or addition of different antioxidant sources can influence chocolate flavor development.

Currently several factors/trends contribute to the approaches focused on flavor development in chocolate. In the current restructuring of the global cacao source chain, where more focus is on direct and transparent trade, sustainability, single origin and high quality cacao beans, more attention has been directed to activities performed at the country of origin. Thus, there is increasing understanding of the effect of genetics and growing conditions and post-harvest processes, performed at the country of origin, on flavor development of cacao beans and the potential application of the terroir concept on the chocolate industry. More attention has thus been paid to optimization of crop genetics, agricultural practices, and post-harvest processes. Once the cacao beans are ready for processing, other factors related to optimization of chocolate formulation and processing become important. The use of novel processing techniques in chocolate formulation and production requires optimization of processing to develop desired chocolate characteristics and potential industrial scale. The use of cocoa butter equivalents (CBE) to contrast the high price of cocoa butter, or to develop chocolate with desired melting characteristics, has increased utilization of several types of CBE with increased interest in flavor development or textural changes. Lastly, the increase in health conscious consumers, related to food behaviors, has increased the interest in sugar reduction in chocolate, requiring modification of the chocolate matrix with potential changes in flavor development.

Graphical abstract

Section snippets

Introduction to the chocolate matrix

Chocolate is a semi-solid suspension of fine solid particles of sugar, cocoa and possibly milk solids in a continuous phase of cocoa butter [1]. Perceived flavors are a result of aroma compounds being released from food matrices due to different chemical reactions; these compounds interact with olfactory receptor cells located in the nose and mouth [2^•]. Chocolate has a complex flavor profile and compositional matrix, due to the unique interactions between structural lipid polymorphs in cocoa

Genetics and geography

Cacao reclassification includes 10 genetic clusters, or groups, including: Amelonado, Contamana, Criollo, Curaray, Guiana, Iquitos, Marañon, Nacional, Nanay and Purús [12]. This accurately reflects the genetic diversity now available for breeders, as opposed to the traditional classifications: Criollo, Forastero, or Trinitario.

The impact of genetic diversity and complexity of cacao cultivars on agronomic and quality characteristics of cacao, such as chocolate flavor, led to sequencing of the

Conclusion

Flavor development in chocolate is highly dependent on multiple factors, including cacao growth conditions, for example, soil and weather, genetics, post-harvest handling and processing, and the actual formulation and processing of the chocolate. During the last 10 years in the chocolate industry, interest has been increasing from consumers and processers to learn more about growing conditions and processes at the country of origin, which have great impact on flavor development of the final

Conflict of interest statement

Nothing declared.

References and recommended reading

Papers of particular interest, published within the period of review, have been highlighted as:

• of special interest
•• of outstanding interest

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Microbial terroir has been scarcely studied in the dry-cured ham industry. The microbial population and ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination in two Spanish facilities located in a specific geographical region (Salamanca) with differences in the environmental conditions used for the ham processing were evaluated for establishing the microbial terroir. Differences between the levels of Gram-positive catalase-positive cocci (GCC+), lactic acid bacteria (LAB), yeasts and moulds were found at the processing stage (post-salting, drying and cellar) and facility levels. Such variations could be responsible for the development of different flavour profiles, which indicate their potential functionality for determining the microbial terroir in the artisan dry-cured Iberian ham industry, despite the fact that this work constitutes a preliminary study. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that the differences in the microbial population throughout the processing of both sampled facilities could directly impact on one of the main concerns of the meat industry from the food safety point of view consisting of the accumulation of OTA, since differences in its levels were detected between both checked facilities. These findings could lead to the enforcement of the terroir concept in artisan dry-cured Iberian ham elaboration, resulting in a value enhancement that might be reflected in economic and social positive results for the territory. Nevertheless, microbial terroir in the dry-cured Iberian ham must be further explored by the increase of the number of studied facilities.
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Does award and origin labeling influence consumers’ willingness-to-pay beyond sensory cues? An experimental auction on improved Philippine tablea (cocoa liquor)
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View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

Current context on chocolate flavor development — a review

Highlights

Graphical abstract

Section snippets

Introduction to the chocolate matrix

Genetics and geography

Conclusion

Conflict of interest statement

References and recommended reading

J Food Sci Technol

Beckett’s Ind Choc Manuf Use

Food Sci Technol

J Food Nutr Res

J Am Oil Chem Soc

LWT Food Sci Technol

Food Chem

Eur Food Res Technol

Int J Food Sci Technol

J Food Sci

J Am Oil Chem Soc

Cocoa Production Processing Technology

Understanding the chemistry and evolution of chocolate flavor

Food Technol

Impact of Emulsifiers on Physical, Sensory, and Microstructural Properties in Formulated Dark Chocolate with an Innovative Educational Approach

Effect of fat nature and aroma compound hydrophobicity on flavor release from complex food emulsions

J Agric Food Chem

Flavor formation and character in cocoa and chocolate: a critical review

Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr

Factors influencing quality variation in cocoa (Theobroma cacao) bean flavour profile — a review

Food Res Int

Hidden Persuaders in Cocoa and Chocolate

Impact of sustainability labeling in purchase intention and quality perception of dark chocolate

Proceedings of the 9th Int Conf Life Cycle Assess Agri-Food Sect

The author gives a complete description of the evolution and changes of the chocolate industry in the United States. The book explains the bean to bar chocolate making process and give an overview of the current chocolate industry.

Bean to Bar Chocolate

Chocolate Making: From Bean to Bar to S’more

Geographic and genetic population differentiation of the Amazonian chocolate tree (Theobroma cacao L.)

PLoS ONE

The genome of Theobroma cacao

Nat Genet

The cacao Criollo genome v2.0: an improved version of the genome for genetic and functional genomic studies

BMC Genomics

Structural characterization and mapping of functional EST-SSR markers in Theobroma cacao

Tree Genet Genomes

Genetic characterization of the cacao cultivar CCN 51: its impact and significance on global cacao improvement and production

J Am Soc Hortic Sci

Molecular characterization of Vietnamese cocoa genotypes (Theobroma cacao L.) using microsatellite markers

Tree Genet Genomes

A larger chocolate chip — development of a 15K Theobroma cacao L. SNP array to create high-density linkage maps

Front Plant Sci

Colombia a source of cacao genetic diversity as revealed by the population structure analysis of germ plasm bank of Theobroma cacao L

Front Plant Sci

Morphological characterization of traditional cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) plants in Cuba

Genet Resour Crop Evol

An assessment of the quality attributes of the Imperial College Selections (ICS) Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) clones

Acta Hort

The impact of pollen donor on flavor in cocoa

J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci.

Impact of processing location and growing environment on flavor in cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) — implications for ``terroir’’ and certification — processing location study

Acta Hort.