Cocoa bean fermentation is a complex and dynamic microbiological process that transforms harvested cocoa pods into precursors essential for flavour and quality in chocolate production. This process ...

Whether baked as chips into a cookie, melted into a sweet warm drink, or molded into the shape of a smiling bunny, chocolate is one of the world’s most universally consumed foods. Even the biggest ...

The chocolate industry is having a meltdown. Cocoa prices have doubled since the start of the year, as crops in West Africa — which produces 80% of the world’s cocoa — have been hit by droughts made ...

Chocolate production is a multi-step process that starts with freshly harvested cocoa beans. Researchers reporting in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry have ...

Close-up of chunks of dark chocolate bar pieces stacked into a small pile. The flavors of premium chocolate are influenced by the microbes involved in its fermentation. Credit: Shutterstock Biting ...

Like wine and cheese, chocolate has terroir, a sense of the place it was grown. Each bonbon or bar may carry unique flavors shaped by the soil, rainfall and temperature of the farm. But much of that ...

Producing chocolate, one of the world's most beloved sweets, is a multistep process beginning with freshly harvested cocoa beans. People have been experimenting with chocolate-making for millennia, ...

In a recent study published in Nature Microbiology, researchers investigated microbial interactions and fermentation conditions that shape the flavor of cocoa beans. They found that microbial activity ...

Why do some chocolate bars exhibit complex flavor notes like floral, caramel, and gentle woody, while others taste harsh, bitter, and astringent? A study published in Nature Microbiology has for the ...