Effa Onomo Pierre*;
Simon Perrez Akoa; Paul Kevin Mandeng; Jude Manga Ndjaga; Martine Louise Ondobo; Pierre François Djocgoue;
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Introduction:
The cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao L.) is a cash crop that provides significant income in several countries of the world. Despite unbridled research into the selection of genotypes that are both tolerant to pathogens and productive, the challenge of the good quality of the beans to be marketed remains. In order to improve the aromatic qualities of cocoa, the aim of this study was to assess the dynamic of some aroma precursors following fermentation of three cocoa hybrids.
Materials and methods: Three cocoa hybrids such as T79/467 x SNK13, ICS40 x UPA134 and SNK13 x T79/467 were generated by hand pollination technique and putted in fermentation process. Bean descriptors such as average number of beans per pod (NFC), average weight of one fresh bean (P1F) and average weight of one dry bean (P1S) were determined 5 to 7 months after harvest. Then, the physicochemical parameters [temperature, pH, cut-test, fermentation index (IF)], total soluble sugars (TSS) and aroma precursors [total amino acids (TAA) and total reducing sugars (TRS)] were evaluated day 0 to day 7 during the fermentation process.
Results and discussion: Genotype T79/467 x SNK13 was marked with an average filling of beans per pod (42 beans) and a low P1F (2.29± 0.35 g) and P1S (1.03±0.18). As an indicator of good fermentation, the hybrid genotypes ICS40 x UPA134 and SNK13 x T79/467 showed a high percentage of brown beans reaching almost 60% seven days after fermentation and drying, with FI ≥ 1. However, the evolution of aroma precursors in the three genotypes was genotype-dependent with a greater accumulation on day 7 of total reducing sugars (1.98 mgEqFru/g MS) and total amino acids (7.35 mgEqGly/g MS) in hybrid genotypes SNK13 x T79/467 and ICS40 x UPA134 respectively.
Impact : 4 to 7 days of fermentation provide good quality beans and yield good aroma precursors.
Keywords: T. cacao L., hybrid, fermentation, physicochemical parameters, flavor precursors.
