Purpose: Research on cross-modal sensory interactions has shown that visual aspects of food can influence consumer's expectation and perception of taste, mouthfeel and liking. This paper aims to investigate the effects of a rounded (“bouba”) and a squared (“kiki”) shape on expected and perceived sweetness, bitterness, creaminess and liking of chocolates.Design/methodology/approach: Brazilian consumers (N = 230) divided into two groups of 115 individuals each evaluated five chocolates containing 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70% of cocoa. One of the groups evaluated all formulations in the rounded shape and the other in the squared shape. Results were analysed with mixed multivariate analysis of variance (mixed-MANOVA) between shapes, repeated-measures MANOVA between pre- and post-tasting and Pearson's correlation analysis was performed between liking ratings and sweetness, bitterness and creaminess confirmation/disconfirmation.Findings: The study found significant effects (p < 0.05) of shape on expected and perceived creaminess but not on other attributes; of cocoa percentage (30, 40, 50, 60 and 70%) on all four attributes; and time (pre- and post-tasting) on sweetness, bitterness and liking but not creaminess. Finally, it found significant negative correlations between the creaminess difference indices and the liking ratings for the 30, 50 and 60% chocolates.Originality/value: This study reports that consumers may expect and perceive chocolates as creamier in a rounded shape than in an angular shape and that if the expectation of creaminess is not confirmed by sensory perception, acceptability may be negatively affected.

During cocoa processing, there can be the formation of bioactive amines, which are compounds that play relevant roles not only in plant development but also in human health. Thus, we aimed to investigate the presence and levels of bioactive amines during the processing of two important varieties of cocoa (PS 1319 and Parazinho). The seeds were fermented using five different pulp proportions: 100% (E1), 80% (E2), 60% (E3), and 0% (total pulp removal) (E4). The beans were fermented and dried on a farm following traditional procedures. Soon after, they were roasted and processed into chocolates with 60% cocoa in the laboratory. Bioactive amine contents were determined by ion-pair reversed-phase HPLC and fluorometric detection in the samples before, during, and after fermentation, after drying and roasting (nibs), and in the liquor and chocolate. The only amines found before processing in PS 1319 and Parazinho, respectively, in dry weight basis (dwb), were putrescine (pulp, 13.77 and 12.31; seed, 5.88 and 4.58) and serotonin (seed, 2.70 and 2.54). Fermentation was shorter for Parazinho (156 h) compared to PS 1319 (180 h). The changes in amines were affected by the cocoa variety. During drying, the presence of cadaverine stood out, appearing in all treatments of the PS 1319 variety, reaching 17.96 mg/kg dwb, and in two treatments of the Parazinho variety (100 and 60% pulp). During roasting, most of the amines decreased, except for phenylethylamine, which increased up to 2.47 mg/kg dwb for Parazinho and 1.73 mg/kg dwb for PS 1319. Most of the amines formed and built up (e.g., tyramine, putrescine, and cadaverine) during fermentation were not available or were at low levels in the nibs. Most of the amines found during processing did not reach the final product (chocolate), except for cadaverine in PS 1319 without pulp (7.54 mg/kg dwb). Finally, we confirmed how pulp content, processing, and variety influence the content of bioactive amines in cocoa and chocolate. These changes can be better demonstrated through a heatmap and principal component analysis.

The complexation of polymeric materials can be an alternative to trapping oil in a physical network for formulating foods with reduced saturated fat content. In this research, we have evaluated the use of different polymer ratios of Sodium Alginate (ALG), Carrageenan predominance iota (CR1) and Carrageenan predominance kappa (CR2) complexed with Chitosan (CHI) at a fixed polymer concentration (2% w/v) to formulate complex hydrogels and assess their oil holding capacity. The objective was to determine the polymer ratios of CHI to anionic polysaccharides (75:25, 50:50, and 25:75), determining the oil retention capacity in different ratios, and how this can affect the stability, microstructure and rheology of to produce low saturated chocolate with trapped canola oil. The stability of the hydrogels was characterized, considering the water retention and retention of canola oil in polysaccharides complexes. The more stable system was the hydrogel CHI:CR2 in a polymer ratio of 25:75. This formulation, when added of 20% of canola oil presented an apparent viscosity of 0.631 Pa.s at 300 s⁻¹, and its use as replacer of saturated fat allowed the production of dark chocolate with 16% reduction in fat content and 80% of added cocoa butter. Stability studies showed that polysaccharides complexes network can retain the edible oil in chocolate formulation for 60 days. It has been proven that polysaccharides complexes can be incorporated to partially replace the fatty phase in chocolates without considerable changes in relevant characteristics as consumer acceptance evaluated by sensory tests and rheological properties.

The fermentation of cocoa seeds envolves microbial processes and the action of enzymes. To identify the possible differences in the cocoa fermentation process, with regards to proteolysis, this study has the objective of determining protease activity (under predetermined conditions) and its isoenzymes in two cocoa cultivars (PH-16 and HRT-1188) in different cocoa fermentation times, in addition to establishing the microbial load (molds and yeasts and aerobic mesophilic). Protease and its isoenzymes were extracted and partially purified and the enzymatic activities determined by spectrophotometry. The results showed that the proteases activity was higher at 66h of fermentation for both cultivars. When the isoenzymes activity was evaluated, the results demonstrated similar activity behavior for both cultivars, with regards to the isoenzymes aminopeptidase and carboxypeptidase, although the behavior of the endoprotease isoenzyme activity proved to be a little different for TSH-1188 cultivar. Concerning microbiological analyses, the results indicate that the period after molds and yeast counting reduction is consistent with the period of protease activity increase

Our objective was to characterize the protease enzymatic activity and its isoenzymes on cacao cultivars PH 16 and TSH 1188, produced in southern Bahia, linking it to the conditions of the fermentation process. Proteases were extracted and semi-purified, their activities determined changing substrate, pH and temperature, and the values ​​compared with the parameters of fermentation (pH and temperature), and yet determined the kinetic parameters and the activity of its isoenzymes: aminopeptidase, carboxypeptidase and endoprotease. In the experimental conditions, differences in protease activities were shown as to different cocoa cultivars on various conditions. The albumin stands out as the preferred enzyme substrate, in a pH range between 3 and 6 and temperatures between 29 ° C and 50 ° C. As for the isoenzymes activity, an increased activity in these seeds and in the cultivar TSH 1188 was observed. When correlated with the fermentative parameters, the conditions for enzymatic activity are not the best determined, with emphasis on farming pH 16 presenting its fermentation conditions far from those found as optimal, especially in pH evaluation, since temperature varies very little between the two cultivars.