In a country concerned with quality, flavor, and ethical practices, the traceability of cocoa and chocolate is very important. Although traceability of cocoa exists in some markets, the majority of consumers currently purchase chocolate without knowing the origin for major ingredients such as cocoa. Cocoa bean traceability can also be important in the cocoa value chain due to an increased demand for verification of ethical and eco-friendly production practices. This project investigated whether the fatty acid and trace element signatures from single-origin cocoa liquors could be correlated to the country of origin. Cocoa liquors from regions including Central America, South America, Southeast Asia, and Africa were evaluated. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) were analyzed by GC-MS, and trace element analysis was performed using ICP-MS. The fatty acid and trace element data sets were combined and analyzed by discriminant analysis, resulting in a robust signature that aided in the distinction between countries. Three main questions were investigated: 1) Could cocoa liquor samples from multiple countries be discriminated from each other based on fatty acid signatures and/or trace element signatures? 2) Did samples from the same country, but with different cocoa preparation conditions have the same element/fatty acid signatures? 3) Which fatty acids/elements were most useful for provenance determination?<br/>Initial results indicate that single-origin cocoa liquors from countries within the above four regions can be readily distinguished from one another based on their elemental and fatty acid signatures. In addition, these signatures appear to be robust, with little influence observed based on differences in cocoa liquor processing conditions, such as roast temperature and duration. Future work will investigate whether the chemical signatures can be used to further refine provenance to specific geographic regions within a given country.

Determination of cocoa liquor provenance using fatty acid and trace element signatures

251st National Meeting (2016)

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