MAPPING THE EFFECTS OF STARTER CULTURE ADDITION ON COCOA BEAN FERMENTATION

Abstract

Fermentation is an essential step in the formation of aroma and flavour of cocoa beans. During the fermentation, cocoa bean pulp is degraded to form metabolic products, one of which functions as the precursor for the aroma and flavour of cocoa beans. Previous research suggested that the addition of starter culture on the cocoa bean fermentation process can improve the fermentation performance. In this research the effects of various starters culture combinations, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. Chevalieri, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Acetobacter aceti were studied. The addition of starter culture was confirmed by analysis of microbial population during the fermentation. Fermentation performances were measured as fermentation index and cocoa bean pH, as well as sugar and metabolic product concentration. The obtained results showed that in general the addition of starter culture accelerated sugar consumption and increased metabolites production. The highest fermentation index was 1.38±0.07, obtained from fermentation added with starter culture combination containing Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. Chevalieri and Lactobacillus plantarum. This fermentation advanced faster and was completed at 4 days, or shortened the overall fermentation time. On the other hand fermentation added with starter culture containing only Acetobacter aceti gave the lowest fermentation index, 0.96±0.04