Researchers claim to have discovered the 'secret sauce' needed for fine chocolate, potentially opening the door to new flavours and addressing the current crisis in cocoa costs. The study, published in Nature Microbiology, reveals how bacteria and fungi involved in cocoa bean fermentation influence chocolate flavour.
Prof David Salt from the University of Nottingham, co-author of the study, said: 'We understand now what microbes we need and what they’re doing. And I think that opens up the opportunity … to be a lot more directed [about] how we make our chocolate in terms of its flavour.'
The team studied beans from three Colombian regions: Santander, Huila and Antioquia. While fermentation was similar for Santander and Huila, Antioquia showed different temperature and pH patterns due to distinct microbes. Cocoa liquor from Santander and Huila had fruity, floral, citrus notes resembling fine flavour cocoa from Madagascar, while Antioquia’s liquor lacked these notes, resembling bulk chocolate from Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Using genetic sequencing, the researchers identified nine key microbes that produce fine flavour notes. When introduced to sterile cocoa beans, these microbes produced cocoa with floral, fruity and citrus notes, reduced astringency and bitterness.
Salt said the findings could help farmers promote key microbes during fermentation, ensuring high quality cocoa. He added: 'You could bring in either inoculums [of microbes] that could bring in particular flavours, new flavours that you just don’t see normally in cocoa. Or you could actually come up with strategies to bias a fermentation, to come up with new flavours.' This could also reduce the amount of cocoa needed, easing the current cost crisis.
