Contribution of predominant yeasts to the occurrence of aroma compounds during cocoa bean fermentation

Cocoa flavor is the most important organoleptic property according to chocolate consumers. Raw cocoa beans sourced from Ivory Coast are not known for their fine aroma quality. In the global framework of raw cocoa quality improvement, this study dealt with the determination and control of the conditions of the aroma compound formation and aimed to determine the potential contribution of yeast associated with the fermentation to the formation of sensory profiling for cocoa beans. Using the method of SPME-GC-MS, the potential for flavor contribution of some predominant yeasts isolated from cocoa fermentation assays performed around Abidjan and then grown on Sabouraud-chloramphenicol medium was determined. Also, the flavor precursor compounds of final corresponding raw cocoa bean samples prepared according to specific post-harvest processing were analyzed. A total of around ten species of yeast involved in cocoa fermentation but among them, six strains were namely identified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida tropicalis, Pichia kudriavzevii, Pichia galeiforms, Galactomyces geotrichum and Wickerhamomyces anomalus. These identified yeasts produced a total of 33 aroma compounds grouped into four families such as esters, alcohols, acids and others. Among all yeasts involved in fermentation performed in Abidjan, P. kudriavzevii, S. cerevisiae, G. geotrichum and W. anomalus could be considered as the most important contributors to the formation of cocoa specific aroma compounds. These cocoa aroma producing capacities of yeast isolates could be used to improve the sensory profiling raw cocoa beans or other fermented food stuffs. Furthermore some specific yeast isolates could be used as biological markers to predict the determining of chocolate sensorial characteristics and to indicate the geographical origin or processing story of cocoa bean batches.