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We define germs as tiny monsters that make us sick and harm us, and we fear these tiny monsters as much as possible. In fact, we are so afraid that we try to get rid of these little monsters by producing thousands of methods and products to protect ourselves from them. In fact, these little monsters are not our enemies, on the contrary, they are our little friends who protect us and strive for our happiness. Even though these little friends of ours are single-celled, they work day and night just so that we can be happy with just a single piece of chocolate. How Does? In this article, we will learn how microbes make us happy with a single piece of chocolate. I wish you a pleasant reading in advance…
Chocolate is the greatest reward for children, a must for adults to take a short break from their busy life marathon, the only sought-after snack for depression, in short, it is indispensable for everyone, from adults to children. The secret of this indispensability is hidden in the unique taste of chocolate. But did you know that this unique taste of chocolate owes to microbes? Yes, you heard right, those tiny creatures that we fear so much produce a magnificent work like chocolate for us. Let's take a look at this adventure together. The yellow fruits growing on Theobroma cocoa trees must go through many stages to transform into uniquely beautiful chocolate (Figure 1).
Figure 1. The fermentation stage of chocolate beans collected from the cocoa tree
The most important and unique taste of these stages is the fermentation stage. The fermentation stage is also called curing, and our little friends join our adventure at this stage (Figure 2). First, yellow fruits are collected from the cocoa tree, then the hard shells of these yellow fruits are broken and chocolate seeds, called beans, are extracted. Chocolate beans are left to dry outside to ferment. At this stage, the busy work of our little friends begins. Because it takes a short period of 3-10 days for bitter-tasting chocolate beans to transform into their wonderfully fragrant, unique taste. During this period, the first task falls to the yeasts (Candida, Pichia, Saccharomyces, Kloeckera, Trichosporon and Schizosaccha) and lactic acid-producing bacteria (Lactobacillus fermentum, Lb. plantarum, Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lactococcus lactis), and the yeasts begin to produce alcohol by adhering to the sugary pulp in the chocolate beans. When the alcohol level in the beans increases, oxygen-loving acetic acid bacteria (Acetobacter spp., and Gluconobacter spp.) come into play and convert the alcohol in the beans into acetic acid through an oxidation reaction. Acetic acid bacteria then cause a series of biochemical changes in the nucleus. Thanks to these changes, it converts polyphenols into o-quinones. Although polyphenols are antioxidants, they give chocolate beans a bitter and dark purple color. o-quinones give chocolate a richer taste and brown appearance.
Figure 2. Microorganisms in chocolate beans
At the last stage, when the acid in the chocolate beans evaporates, filamentous fungi (Aspergillus fumigatus, A. niger, Fusarium moniliforme, F. oxysporum, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Mucor racemosus, Mucor spp., Paecilomyces varioti, Penicillium citrinum, P. implicatus, P. spinosum, P. Thielaviopsis ethaceticus, Trichoderma viridae and Mycelia sterilia) and spore-producing bacteria (Bacillus spp.) come and help it get a thicker consistency, and the fermentation phase is terminated. Chocolate beans fermented in this way are crushed with milk and transformed into the desired product which takes its place in the markets. All that remains for us is worldly happiness in a single bite and a tiny piece.
Now that we have learned how much microbes try to make us happy, let's not forget that microbes are not little monsters but our little friends...
References
1. Rosane F. Schwan & Alan E. Wheals (2004) The Microbiology of Cocoa Fermentation and its Role in Chocolate Quality, Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 44:4, 205-221, DOI: 10.1080/10408690490464104
3. Coe, S.D. and Coe, M.D. 1996. The true history of chocolate, London: Thames and Hudson
4. Lopes, A.S. and Dimick, P.S. 1995. Cocoa fermentation. In Biotechnology: A comprehensive treatise, vol. 9, pp. 563–577. Reed, G. and Nagodawithana, T.W., Eds. (2nd ed.), Enzymes, Food and Feed. Weinheim: VCH.
5. Wollgast, J. and Anklam, E. 2000. Review of polyphenols in Theobroma cacao: Changes in composition during the manufacture of chocolate and methodology for identification and quantification. Food Res. Intern., 33:42–447.
6. Roelofsen, P.A. 1958. Fermentation, drying, and storage of cocoa beans. Adv. Food Res., 8:225–296
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