STERILIZATION of “Cacao honey” (theobroma Cacao L.) By
High Hydrostatic Pressure

Name: LUIZA ADAMI MONTEIRO DE CASTRO

Publication date: 07/02/2020
Advisor:

Namesort descending Role
PATRICIA MACHADO BUENO FERNANDES (M/D) Advisor *

Examining board:

Namesort descending Role
ALEXANDRE MARTINS COSTA SANTOS Internal Examiner *
PATRICIA MACHADO BUENO FERNANDES (M/D) Advisor *

Summary: Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is a plant native to South America that began to be explored
by Europeans after the discovery of America in the 16th century. However, it was only from
1876 that chocolate, as we know it today, started to be commercialized and consolidated
in the market, increasing since then its consumption and consequently the production of
cocoa. To promote the sustainable development of the cocoa-producing regions of Brazil,
research centers and projects aimed at this plant have been implemented, with one of the
lines taking full advantage of the cocoa tree with the use of products, by-products, and
residues from the plantations adding value to agricultural activity. From then on, “cocoa
honey”, the transparent liquid that drips from the pulp, started to be used for the production
of different products such as ice cream, jelly, liquor, wine, vinegar, and distillates. This
product has gained market share due to its pleasant sweet-acid taste. However, there is a
need to establish treatments to increase shelf life without the addition of chemical
preservatives, which can lead to market rejection, in addition to influencing the product's
aroma. High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) is widely used as a tool for food sterilization and
offers the advantage of not altering the sensorial properties of the product. However, there
are no studies that have used this technique for this cocoa derivative. Therefore, two
different HHP treatments were used to test an efficient method for microbial reduction of
“cocoa honey” and to maintain better stability after 10 days of storage. Also,
microorganisms were counted, such as total and fecal coliforms, performing a presumptive
test with LST and a confirmatory test with CVB and EC broth; total bacteria using PCA;
total fungi using BDA. The treatment of 50 MPa for 10 minutes, followed by
depressurization for 5 minutes and immediately after 300 MPa for 50 minutes was more
efficient in reducing the number of microorganisms. Thus, HHP has a potential sterilizing
action of the product, and further studies should be developed to analyze the stability of
sensory quality.

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