EFFECTS OF CROP AND FERMENTATION TEMPERATURE ON THE PROTEOLYTIC ACTIVITY AND BIOACTIVE AMINE PROFILE OF COCOA (THEOBROMA CACAO L.) A MULTIVARIATE APPROACH

Bioactive amines are important indicators of quality and hygienic-sanitary conditions in cocoa processing. Some amines are inherent to cocoa, however, others result from proteolysis and decarboxylation of free amino acids during fermentation. This study aimed to investigate bioactive amines and proteolytic activity during fermentation in two cocoa clones (PH16 and SJ02), from the harvest (early and main), and in two types of fermentation of the PH16 clone from the main crop (natural and at 40°C). Amines were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography, post-column shunt with o-phthalaldehyde and fluorimetric detection. Clones and treatments were compared by ANOVA, followed by the t-test at 5% significance. Multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical group grouping (HCA) were performed. At the end of fermentation, significant differences were observed between the clones in relation to the amine profile. The main amines present in clone PH16 were tyramine and spermine, while in SJ02 putrescine and spermidine predominated. The proteolytic activity was positively correlated with tyramine (r=0.787) and serotonin (r=0.884) in clone SJ02. The harvest also influenced the profile of bioactive amines between the treatments, with the early harvest showing higher putrescine contents, and the main harvest higher spermidine and spermine contents. The proteolytic activity showed a high correlation with putrescine in the main season (r= -0.714)