Stéphane Duboux
Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
Title: The Key to Acetate: Metabolic Fluxes of Acetic Acid Bacteria under Cocoa Pulp Fermentation-Simulation Conditions
Biography
Biography: Stéphane Duboux
Abstract
Chocolate preprocessing involves pod opening, bean (pulp) fermentation, and bean drying, followed by roasting of the cocoa beans (1). Cocoa bean fermentation is a spontaneous process that is carried out under rather uncontrolled conditions. Thus, the result of the fermentation process strongly depends on the microbial population of the pulp and postharvest practices on the farm (2). Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) play an important role during cocoa fermentation, as their main product, acetate, is a major driver for the development of the desired cocoa flavors (3, 4). Here, we investigated the specialized metabolism of these bacteria under cocoa pulp fermentation-simulating conditions via carefully designed combination of parallel 13C isotope labeling experiments. The received insights supported the first development of experimental starter cultures.