Development and technological innovation in the production and transformation of cacao into products with added value in the Andean sector

This project was carried out in Peru and Colombia, specifically in two cocoa-producing regions of Cuzco and San Martín, in Peru; and Tolima and Huila departments in Colombia. For these regions, a geographic information system (GIS) was developed that included edaphoclimatic information and the collection of materials of differentiated quality. Physicochemical and organoleptic characterization were also carried out. For each region, materials were defined that may be of use in future planting processes, due to their good productivity and differentiated quality in flavor, focusing their use in fine and aroma chocolate industry.

For the agronomic aspect of the project, soil characterization was carried out in order to identify the presence of cadmium. This heavy metal is a barrier for exportation process considering the maximum limits allowed by the European Union for products derived from cacao. It was found that some soils in the southern zone of the department of Tolima exceed the permitted limit for the presence of this metal. At the greenhouse level, two experiments were carried out to identify 1) effect of the variety on the resistance to the presence of this metal, finding that the material CCN51 adsorb less, 2) soil amendment treatments that decrease the adsorption of cadmium, where the mixture of Dolomite lime with mycorrhizae was a treatment that decreased adsorption at the leaf level.

In improvements to the fermentation process, an ecological prototype was achieved for bean fermentation, using recycled tires that preserve the temperature, is easy to build for producers and economically affordable. Similarly, aroma precursor microorganisms to be used as starter cultures were identified and collected, also identifying that their use accelerates the fermentation process. For each country there is a collection of microorganisms identified by species for future resistance and encapsulation work.

Finally, the extraction of the flavonoid compounds present in the unfermented cacao bean was achieved, the encapsulation by spray drying and lyophilization was studied. Flavonoids present and antioxidant activity were determined for these encapsulates. The lyophilization technique generated encapsulates with the highest antioxidant and cardioprotective activity. It is necessary to continue working on larger scale standardization to obtain this flavonoid-rich product since standardization was only achieved at the laboratory level.

The results of this research were disseminated during two workshops in 2019 and two virtual conference cycles held in 2020 and 2021. New forms of knowledge transfer were incorporated in order to reach a larger audience, and videos explaining important subjects were created. Finally, results were presented in different congress and articles submitted for publication.