Impact of Water on Odor-Active Compounds in Fermented and Dried Cocoa Beans and Chocolates Made thereof

The impact of water on odor-active compounds in fermented and dried cocoa beans as well as in chocolate either produced by a novel processing (NPC) or a traditional processing (TPC) technology from the same batch of cocoa beans was investigated in this study. Quantitation of selected key odorants revealed significantly higher concentrations of Strecker aldehydes such as 3-(methylsulfanyl)propanal (66-fold) and phenylacetaldehyde (50-fold) after water treatment of the cocoa beans. The comparison of the two chocolates showed that higher amounts of the Strecker aldehydes 2-methylbutanal, 3-methylbutanal, and phenylacetaldehyde are released with water in the NPC (24-fold to 39-fold), compared to the TPC (7.3-fold-11-fold). In addition to Strecker aldehydes, the concentrations of many further characteristic key odorants of cocoa and chocolate increased after water treatment. Based on the results, a more intense retronasal odor perception of the analyzed compounds is expected due to their release during consumption in contact with saliva.