SUPPLEMENTAL CACAO FERMENTATION

• Main Authors: CLARK, Anthony J, LANGAN, James Patrick, NADAL, Marina
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 09.10.2024
• Subjects: CHEWING GUM; COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; CONFECTIONERY; FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; HUMAN NECESSITIES; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; THEIR TREATMENT, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES

Provided is a method for production of a myceliated cacao product having reduced acidity, astringency, and/or bitterness tastes which optionally includes the steps of providing harvested cacao comprising beans, pulp and/or pods from the fruit pods of the species Theobroma cacao and fermenting the harvested cacao, preferably by a conventional fermentation process. In another step, a fungal inoculum comprising a filamentous fungus comprising, in one embodiment, Hericium erinaceus is used to inoculate the harvested cacao and the combination is cultured in a supplemental fermentation step for, for example, 1 to 2 days to produce the myceliated cacao product. The myceliated cacao product is optionally dried. In one aspect, a chocolate produced from the myceliated cacao product has reduced acidity, astringency, and/or bitterness tastes compared to a chocolate prepared from an unmyceliated cacao product. Products prepared by the methods described herein are also provided.