Phenolic compounds, methylxanthines and antioxidant activity in cocoa mass and chocolates produced from "witch broom disease" resistant and non resistant cocoa cultivars

Abstract

The "witch broom disease" caused by the fungus called Moniliophthora perniciosa is one of the most important cocoa diseases in Latin America, causing around 70% production reduction in the southern Bahia. In attempt to solve the problem, many cultivars resistant to the disease have been recommended to farmers. On the other hand, the chocolate flavour is composed by many compounds whose formation depends on the genetic background, environment where cocoa is grown and processing operations. Therefore, this work aimed at determining the monomeric phenolic compounds, methylxanthines and antioxidant activity of cocoa mass and dark chocolate from cocoa cultivars resistant to "witch broom disease" and non resistant to the disease. The total phenolic compounds in cocoa mass did not vary among cultivars with values ranging from 23.95mg g-1 to 25.03mg g-1. Chocolates made from non resistant cultivars showed higher total phenolic compounds (19.11mg g-1) than SR162 and PH16 with 16.08mg g-1 and 15.46mg g-1, respectively. Epicatechin had higher content than catechin and the levels of these two compounds were higher in SR162. There were significant differences among samples of cocoa mass analyzed for caffeine. Chocolate made from SR162 had the highest amount of monomeric compounds due to its high concentration of catechin and epicatechin. The chocolate sample with the highest antioxidant activity was the SR162, followed by non resistant blend and PH16, showing relationship between the antioxidant activity and monomeric phenolics content.