Author(s)

Maritza Gil^1,2, Francy Orrego¹, Edith Cadena¹, Rosa Alegria¹, Julian Londono-Londono²

¹Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia.
²Corporación Universitaria Lasallista, Grupo de investigación de Ingeniería de Alimentos, GRIAL, Caldas, Colombia.

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao), in all its presentations, is consumed all over the world and is one of the main drivers of the economic in several countries. The world’s Cocoa tendency is focused on developing special beans. This category is subject to postharvest processes of utmost importance such as the fermentation and dry, which are currently carried out with traditional and poorly effective devices, which need to be improved to obtain a high quality product. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the pectin lyase enzyme (E.C.4.2.2.10) on the postharvest cocoa process. We evaluated the enzyme dosage (1.0% and 0.5%) in fermentation and its effect on the variables temperature, acidity and drying time by convection at 60°C. The Pectin lyase activity during fermentation does not cause a significant effect on the variables of temperature and acidity; however, the drying process time required to achieve 7.0% moisture was reduced. The enzyme dosage of 1.0% was the best result, the amount of exudate obtained (115 ml) during fermentation and the best degree of fermentation (77% ± 3.8) were increased and further shows a change in porosity facilitating the scale surface and internal moisture diffusion. The drying rate (Nw) expressed in kg_water/m^{2 *} min was determined based on the empirical model of Newton, where the higher speed was obtained during the falling period. In conclusion, enzyme dosage 1% was the best concentration evaluated because weaken grain husk, which allowed an adequate fermentation,and subsequent time drying reduction until 10.8 h.

Theobroma cacao L., Pectin Lyase Activity, Fermentation, Convection Drying, Newton Model

Gil, M. , Orrego, F. , Cadena, E. , Alegria, R. and Londono-Londono, J. (2016) Effect of Pectin Lyase Enzyme on Fermentation and Drying of Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.): An Alternative to Improve Raw Material in the Industry of Chocolate. Food and Nutrition Sciences, 7, 215-226. doi: 10.4236/fns.2016.74023.