Physical characteristics of chocolate made from cocoa bean fermented at different duration: a preliminary study

Dark chocolate is one of the most popular chocolates due to its health benefit offered. One of the factors influencing its health effect is the fermentation process prior to the chocolate making. Fermentation change the cocoa bean chemical compound and affected the flavor and antioxidant content. Aside from that, changes in the inner structure of cocoa nib may also occur, resulting in different characteristics of cocoa solids. The aim of this study was to do a preliminary study on the impact of fermentation level (unfermented, half-fermented, and fermented cocoa bean) on the quality attributes of dark chocolate, namely color, glossiness, melting point and particle size. The results showed that fermentation duration influenced the characteristics of chocolate, to some extent. The color of chocolate made from fermented bean exhibited higher L*, C*, h° values than chocolate made from half-fermented and unfermented cocoa bean, consecutively. On the other hand, melting point of chocolate made from unfermented cocoa bean had higher propensity than that of chocolate made from half-fermented and fermented bean. Glossiness and particle size of the chocolates were comparable.