Llano Sandra, Zorro-González Andrés, Santander Margareth, Vaillant Fabrice, Boulanger Renaud, Ocampo Serna Diana Marcela, Escobar Sebastián
Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (Agrosavia), Process & Quality Cacao Laboratory, Centros de Investigación Palmira, Tibaitatá y La Selva - Km 14 Mosquera-Bogotá, Cundinamarca P.O. Box 344300 Colombia.
Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (Agrosavia), Process & Quality Cacao Laboratory, Centros de Investigación Palmira, Tibaitatá y La Selva - Km 14 Mosquera-Bogotá, Cundinamarca P.O. Box 344300 Colombia; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement-CIRAD, UMR QualiSud, 1101 avenue Agropolis, CS 24501, 34093. Montpellier Cedex 5, France; UMR Qualisud, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, Université d'Avignon, Université de la Réunion, Montpellier SupAgro, Montpellier, France.
Food Res Int. 2025 Mar;205:115978. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2025.115978. Epub 2025 Feb 18.
The market for flavour superior quality cacao provides significant economic and non-economic benefits to farmers. Flavor precursor metabolites, formed during various post-harvest stages, are crucial for developing superior sensory attributes. However, identifying these metabolites and understanding how climate variations and post-harvest practices influence them remains a challenge. This study investigates how the fermentation methodology applied and climate conditions in different zones of the cacao beans producing region of Arauca - Colombia, influence the metabolomic profile of cacao beans and their flavour precursor metabolites. Untargeted metabolomic analysis was performed by UHPLC-ESI-Orbitrap-MS on cacao beans fermented for 0, 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 h from 9 production zones. The PLS-DA model highlighted that the metabolomics fingerprint changes through fermentation time. Among the most discriminant metabolites, 18 oligopeptides, sucrose, glucose, fructose, flavanols, and acids were tentatively identified. The chemometric analysis showed that fermentation time has a significant impact on the metabolomic profile of cacao beans, while agroclimatic conditions had a minor influence. Metabolomic analyses defined 96 h as the optimal fermentation time to maximize the amount of aroma precursors. Metabolomic analyses identified 96 h as the optimal fermentation time to maximize the amount of aroma precursors across all 9 cacao production zones evaluated. This study underscores the central role of fermentation in shaping flavor precursors, and contributes to the development of new approaches for cacao processing based on the tracking of biochemical and functional compounds (quality biomarkers).
优质风味可可市场为农民带来了显著的经济和非经济效益。在收获后的各个阶段形成的风味前体代谢物，对于形成优质的感官特性至关重要。然而，识别这些代谢物以及了解气候变化和收获后处理如何影响它们仍然是一个挑战。本研究调查了在哥伦比亚阿劳卡可可豆产区不同区域所采用的发酵方法和气候条件，如何影响可可豆的代谢组学特征及其风味前体代谢物。通过超高效液相色谱 - 电喷雾 - 轨道阱质谱仪对来自9个生产区、发酵0、24、48、72、96和120小时的可可豆进行非靶向代谢组学分析。偏最小二乘判别分析模型突出显示，代谢组学指纹图谱随发酵时间而变化。在最具判别力的代谢物中，初步鉴定出18种寡肽、蔗糖、葡萄糖、果糖、黄烷醇和酸。化学计量学分析表明，发酵时间对可可豆的代谢组学特征有显著影响，而农业气候条件的影响较小。代谢组学分析确定96小时为使香气前体数量最大化的最佳发酵时间。代谢组学分析确定96小时为所有9个评估的可可生产区中使香气前体数量最大化的最佳发酵时间。本研究强调了发酵在塑造风味前体方面的核心作用，并有助于基于对生化和功能化合物（质量生物标志物）的追踪开发新的可可加工方法。
