41.

1 Chocolate: The Sweet Side of Fermentation

Chocolate could be characterized as the worlds favorite food, but few people
realize that fermentation is an essential part of chocolate production. Yes,
fermentation. The Aztecs were the first to develop chocolate fermentation, serving a
chocolate drink made from the seeds of the chocolate tree, Theobroma cacao. Each
tree produces large pods that each hold 30 to 40 seeds in a sticky pulp (box figure).
Ripe pods are harvested and slashed open to release the pulp and seeds. The
sooner the fermentation begins, the better the product, so fermentation occurs on
the farm where the trees are grown.
Like most fermentations, this process involves a succession of microbes. First, a
community of yeasts, including Candida rugosa and Kluyveromyces marxianus,
hydrolyzes the pectin that covers the seeds and ferments sugars to release ethyl
alcohol and CO 2 . As the temperature and the alcohol concentration increase, the
yeasts are inhibited and lactic acid bacteria increase in number. Lactic acid
production drives the pH down, encouraging the growth of bacteria that produce
acetic acid as a fermentation end product. Acetic acid is critical to the production of
fine chocolate because it kills the sprout inside the seed and releases enzymes that
cause further degradation of proteins and carbohydrates, contributing to the overall
taste of the chocolate. In addition, acetate esters, derived from acetic acid, are
important for the development of good flavor.
Fermentation takes 5 to 7 days. If it is stopped too soon, the chocolate will be bitter
and astringent; if it lasts too long, microbes start growing on the seeds instead of in
the pulp. Off tastes arise when Gram-positive bacteria in the genus Bacillus and
filamentous fungi belonging to the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium and Mucor
hydrolyze lipids in the seeds to release short-chain fatty acids. As the pH begins to
rise, bacteria of the genera Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, and Escherichia also
contribute to bad tastes and odor. After fermentation, the seeds, now called beans,
are spread out to dry. Then follows the more specific process where it is finally
separated into cocoa solids and cocoa butter. The bulk of these two components will
be used to make chocolate. The cocoa solids and butter are reunited in controlled
ratios, and sugar, vanilla, and other flavors are added. The better the fermentation,
the less sugar needs to be added (and the more expensive the chocolate).
The final product, delicious chocolate, is a combination of over 300 different
chemical compounds. This mixture is so complex that no one has yet been able to
make synthetic chocolate that can compete with the natural fermented plant.
Microbiologists and food scientists are studying the fermentation process to
determine the role of each microbe. But like chemists, they have had little luck in
replicating the complex, imprecise fermentation that occurs on cocoa farms. In fact,
the finest, most expensive chocolate starts as cocoa on farms where the details of
fermentation have been handed down through generations. Chocolate production is
truly an art as well as a science, while eating it is simply divine.