Researchers Discover Adjustment of Yeasts In Cocoa Fermentation Can Alter Flavor

24 Nov 2015 --- A team of Belgian researchers has shown that the yeasts used to ferment cocoa during chocolate production can modify the aroma of the resulting chocolate. "This makes it possible to create a whole range of boutique chocolates to match everyone's favorite flavor, similar to wines, tea, and coffee," says Jan Steensels, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Leuven, and the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, Belgium. The research is published November 20 in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology.

The team set out to breed novel yeast hybrids that would combine robustness with strong flavor production. "We were initially surprised that the volatile flavor compounds are retained in the beans during drying and roasting," said Meersman. The researchers hypothesize that the volatiles are protected from evaporation since they are dissolved in the fat fraction.

The investigators, who collaborated in this research with Barry Callebaut, the world's largest chocolate producer, have combined two critical characteristics of yeast in single hybrid variants: the ability to dominate cocoa fermentations, and to produce a specific flavor. "This means that for the first time, chocolate makers have a broad portfolio of different yeast strains that are all producing different flavors," says Steensels. "This is similar to the current situation in beer brewing and wine making." A new era of chocolate may be dawning.