What makes good chocolate good chocolate?

No surprise if I share with you that it all has to do with the raw material where it is made of. Of course the "basic taste" of cocoa beans, either before or after processing is very bitter and the cocoa which in the form of cocoa butter, cocoa powder or liquor goes to the cocoa processors, may undergo a complete taste metamorphosis with the help of sugar, taste agents such a vanille and a range of add ons in the form of nuts and raisins.

As a matter of fact it starts with the cocoa variety and when the cocoa pods are being harvested, the first step in the transformation is "fermentation" of the beans which in the pods are held in a slimy fleshy substance. The first step is to "ferment" the beans basically in two steps: the anaerobic (no air) stage and the aerobic stage. The whole process may take 5-7 days out of which the anaerobic part takes about 2 days.

Then the beans need to be dried to a level of 7% moisture. That is a challenge in tropical climates as the humidity level of the ambient air is often too high to achieve this moisture level. The result is that in many cases the beans are not sufficiently dried and reach the market at moisture levels that encourage mold development. In the tropics, where average temperatures are around 30 degr.C and relative humidities are frequently in the 80-90% range, we find that cocoa beans are frequently traded at moisture levels well above 7%. Moldy beans cause off flavours and in extreme cases the molds can be toxic in the form of "ochratoxins" which could lead to complete rejection. However that is rarely happening. The reality is that most of the cocoa traded has these elevated moisture levels and thus develops molds that are "acceptable", but certainly do not contribute to optimal cocoa taste and flavour. The most serious "flip" side of moisture and molds in cocoa is that molds trigger a chemical change in the fat content of the beans through a process called "hydrolysis" or "hydrolic lipase". It is a process ending in creating a "rancid" taste, just the same as known in spoiled peanuts or spoiled oil. The fatty content (the "triglycerides") through a combination of heat, moisture and oxygen is changed. The impact is that the taste of the cocoabutter, a major component of chocolate, is affected, causing a "rancid" taste (the taste of spoiled peanuts)

When cocoabeans are properly dried and handled the FFA levels remain low. However cocoabeans stored for extended periods in the tropics tend to have levels of FFA going well above the international standard of 1.75%. Broken beans increase the FFA % substantially more than whole beans, probably because the surface area of the beans has been reduced. Similar phenomena exist in rice or in peanuts when kept under tropical conditions.

There are ways to ensure that cocoa beans will have reduced mold and FFA levels. In theory storing beans in refrigerated warehouses would solve the problem. However that would require a substantial investment and something that lacks in many cocoa producing countries: reliable electrical power.

The most feasible solutions is very simple and cost effective, while contributing a lot to quality improvement: store the beans under modified atmosphere (hermetic storage) conditions. Cocoa produces substantial amounts of carbon dioxide, especially when moisture content is above equilibrium. Naturally generated conditions of low oxygen and elevated carbon dioxide in combination with a water vapor barrier, prevent developments of insects, reduce and arrest mold development and keep free fatty acid levels stable.

Not only creates this technology better quality cocoa, but it also makes cocoa more sustainable, as it eliminates the need for toxic fumigation and reduces losses in this precious commodity.