Microbiological and physicochemical characterization of small-scale cocoa fermentations and screening of yeast and bacterial strains to develop a defined starter culture.

ABSTRACT: Spontaneous cocoa bean fermentations performed under bench- and pilot-scale conditions were studied using an integrated microbiological approach with culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques, as well as analyses of target metabolites from both cocoa pulp and cotyledons. Both fermentation ecosystems reached equilibrium through a two-phase process, starting with the simultaneous growth of the yeasts (with Saccharomyces cerevisiae as the dominant species) and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus plantarum were the dominant species), which were gradually replaced by the acetic acid bacteria (AAB) (Acetobacter tropicalis was the dominant species). In both processes, a sequence of substrate consumption (sucrose, glucose, fructose, and citric acid) and

SUBMITTER: Pereira GV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3416416 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature