Amedei’s Blanco de Criollo processing chain: the importance of the manufacturing process in chocolate aroma

Theobroma cacao L. species comprises many varieties: Criollo is a high value, fine flavour type of cocoa, used to produce high quality products. Flavour and taste are the most important attributes of chocolate and the reason of the global success of this product. Whilst the fine flavour attributes depend on the quality of the starting material, the typical aroma compounds are developed during its manufacturing process. It mainly depends on the subsequent phases: the aroma precursors are developed during the post-harvest treatments, then the manufacturing processes turn them into the desirable odour notes (Afoakwa, 2010). In this study, the volatile emission profiles of each step (from the raw seeds to the packaged product) of the processing chain of Blanco de Criollo were analysed by means of HS-SPME coupled with GC-MS. Amedei, an Italian excellence in chocolate manufacturing, named this product “Blanco” because the Criollo seeds are white. They are aromatic, mild tasting and with low bitterness: the ideal raw material for a quality chocolate. Pyrazines, esters and aldehydes represent the most important aroma-active compounds identified in all the samples. The PCA biplot evidenced the grouping of the samples based on the phase of the processing chain they belong to. The fine flavour degree of this chocolate is confirmed by the behaviour of the aroma volatiles all throughout the processing phases. The acidic compounds, considered off-flavours (Bonvehí, 2005), relative abundance drops after the roasting phase, to be almost undetectable in the final product. Pyrazines show an ideal behaviour (Beckett, 2009), confirming that drying and roasting are not too harsh. The pleasant floral and fruity notes (Bonvehí, 2005) of the volatile esters and aldehydes are stable in every phase. This study confirms the viability of the volatile profile analysis as a tool for assessing the quality of the production phases of chocolate