Scientific publications
Marc Vincent Maheneck
Raissa Jespère Nzouengo Tchounda
Jean Justin Essia-Ngang
Sylvain Leroy Sado Kamdem* (Corresponding author)
Journal of Food Quality
Cocoa beans are often obtained from exposed fermentation and hence may carry many microbial hazards in the production of cocoa‐derived products. The aim of this work was to assess the microbial quality along the production chain of cocoa mass and the effect of mild heat (ambient temperature, 50°C, 55°C, 60°C and 65°C) and cold storage (refrigeration and freezing) of the latter on deliberately inoculated Klebsiella oxytoca , Escherichia coli , Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus brasiliensis survival. It was observed that steam pasteurisation and cocoa roasting can reduce the level of cocoa bean mould from 4.82 Log CFU/g to nondetected levels and total bacteria counts from 6.63 Log CFU/g to 1.94 Log CFU/g in cocoa nibs. The refining process was a critical contamination stage as it contributed to increased microbial contamination. Regarding the challenge testing with the four strains, the deactivation potential of the different cocoa mass treatments was directly proportional to the increase in temperature. In general, the order of sensitivity to cocoa mass treatments was Klebsiella oxytoca , Saccharomyces cerevisiae , Escherichia coli and Aspergillus brasiliensis. The results obtained in this work will contribute in providing new approaches to food safety assurance in the cocoa industry, in particular during the production of cocoa mass.
