Influence of fermentation level and geographical origin on cocoa bean oligopeptide pattern

Oligopeptides were determined by UPLC/ESI-MS and 35 low-molecular weight peptides were identified and subjected to semi-quantitative analysis. Results showed that fermented cocoas can be differentiated from unfermented cocoas by their possession of a higher total amount of oligopeptides and a lower ratio of vicilin to 21 kDa cocoa seed albumin peptides. A variability in the peptide pattern was observed also among well-fermented cocoa samples of different geographical origin, suggesting diversified proteolytic activities.