Chocolates Produced with Unroasted and Roasted Cocoa Beans: A Comparative Study of the Preservation of Bioactive Compounds

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of roasting and cocoa mass content on the composition of chocolates. Chocolate formulations were developed (40, 50, 60 and 70% cocoa solids) using unroasted and roasted cocoa beans, and analyses were performed: physicochemical, chemical composition, antioxidant capacity, procyanidin content, total phenolic compounds, quantification of theobromine, caffeine, catechin and epicatechin by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and spectroscopic profile by mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIR). The results revealed that higher values of total phenolics, epicatechin and procyanidins, were obtained in chocolates produced with unroasted cocoa beans, with a significant difference in relation to those with roasted cocoa beans. It was observed that increasing the percentage of cocoa in the formulations caused an increase in the content of bioactive compounds. The use of MIR in the differentiation of chocolate samples produced with roasted and unroasted cocoa beans obtained a positive result. This technique associated with principal component analysis (PCA) enabled the separation of chocolates according to the type of cocoa bean (roasted and unroasted) used in production, confirming its importance for a quick evaluation of the parameters.

Keywords:
antioxidant activity; cocoa beans; phenolic compounds; principal component