Cocoa butter from Sao Paulo State: survey characteristics; improvement and application in chocolate

• Grant number: 25/03891-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Gabriela Alves Macedo
• Grantee: Lígia Meyer Pacheco Delboni
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos (FEA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/07015-7 - PBIS - Integrated Biotechnological Platform of Healthy Ingredients, AP.NPOP

Abstract

Cocoa production has been going through a crisis, since Africa holds the largest amount of production of the crop. The region faces structural problems, which reduce cocoa production and affect the chocolate market. In contrast to the cocoa crisis, in 2014 the "Cocoa SP" Program was created, an initiative of the Secretary of Agriculture and Supply of the State of São Paulo, which found in cocoa cultivation an incentive to recover rubber trees in the Planalto Paulista. Obesity, now considered a global epidemic, has become an important driver and a major concern worldwide. Structured Lipids (SL), obtained by interesterification reactions containing specific fatty acids, can act in the partial inhibition of pancreatic lipase and in the control of the hydrolysis of triacylglycerols (TAGs), resulting in the reduction of lipid absorption by the body. According to the Brazilian Association of Chocolate, Peanut and Candy Industries (ABICAB), chocolate production increased by 9.8% in the first quarter of 2023. The objectives of this work will be: to characterize cocoa beans from the State of São Paulo from different harvests, fermentations and plant ages; to characterize the influences of cultivation on the formation and physicochemical characteristics of cocoa butter; to develop new lipid matrices in order to improve the thermal characteristics of cocoa butters from fruits from the State of São Paulo; and, the application of these new matrices in chocolate formulations.