Chemical composition and fatty acids profile of chocolates produced with different cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) cultivars

Abstract The objective of the present study was to characterize the physicochemical composition and to quantify the fatty acids of chocolates produced from different cocoa varieties (Theobroma cacao L.) cultivated in the Southern Region of Bahia. Nine samples of monovarietal chocolates were evaluated, according to their physical, thermal and fatty acid profile. The results were subjected to tests of variance and multivariate statistics. The chocolates PH16 and TSH1188 presented higher melting point. It was possible to identify a linear correlation between the fat content of the chocolates and the break force parameter. The chocolates showed higher concentration of saturated fatty acids, mainly palmitic acid (16:0) and stearic acid (18:0), followed by the unsaturated fatty acids among which oleic acid (18:1n-9) and linoleic acid (18:6) were predominant. The principal component analysis allowed to discriminate the different varieties of chocolate according to the profile of fatty acids. The thermogravimetric analysis of the samples showed a similar profile. The differences found in the samples of chocolates were attributed to factors such as the fruit maturation process, the cocoa variety and to which they were subjected during processing