Kumari Neha

• Cocoa-derived products contribute largely to the human-luxury diet in many countries. According to the world cocoa foundation report 2015, worldwide there are 1.8 million tons of chocolate sold, 53 chocolate-producing companies with thousands of factories and more than 5 million cocoa farmers who depend upon cocoa as a cash crop. The high demand for the production of chocolate in the world has made food-oriented research very important. The development of a high-quality cocoa product requires a deep knowledge of the chemistry of the compounds found in the cocoa beans as well as high skills in the chocolate making process. Until recently, chocolate production was a completely empirical field, where the optimal process parameters were found after many trials. However, recent developments in chemical analysis offer the possibility to gain insight into and closely follow the chemical changes of cocoa during all production steps thereby allowing chocolate producers to direct their processes towards the desired features, i.e., taste, consistency, and color. Chocolate and cocoa aroma as well as color derive from the chemical precursor content of the cocoa beans used as raw material and from the way this content is modified during fermentation and manufacturing. The composition of this metabolite content depends on the cocoa variety used, its geographical origin, cultivation method, and post-harvest processing. Final product characteristics are developed through reaction of these precursors during roasting leading to specific colors, flavors, and textures. From this perspective, the precursor content of the cocoa bean and its processing are the central points of importance.