Composition of unfermented, unroasted, roasted cocoa beans and cocoa shells from Peninsular Malaysia

Composition of cocoa beans depends on origin and cocoa processing such as fermentation, drying and roasting. However, less research has been conducted to analyse the composition of Peninsular Malaysia cocoa bean at different processing stages. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the proximate, phytosterol level, antioxidant content and activity of Peninsular Malaysia unfermented, unroasted, roasted cocoa beans and cocoa shells. Analysis involved was proximate analysis, total phenolic compound (Folin–Ciocalteu reagent assay), antioxidant activity (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging assay) and phytosterol composition. Results show that the crude fiber of unroasted cocoa beans and cocoa shells increased from 17.19 to 28.45% and 13.86 to 16.06% respectively after roasting process. The roasting process is suspected to increase the dietary fiber content of cocoa products due to the interaction between polysaccharides, protein, polyphenolic and Maillard products at high temperature. The total phenolic content in cocoa bean and cocoa shells ranged from 2.42 to 10.82 µg GAE/ml. The unfermented cocoa beans contain significantly (p < 0.05) higher antioxidant activity (92.3%) compared to other samples. This study shows that cholesterol, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol were present in roasted cocoa beans and cocoa shells. Hence, the information on the composition of Malaysia unfermented, unroasted, roasted cocoa beans and cocoa shells are needed to enrich the databases composition as a reference for the cocoa industry

Induction of biodeterioration on vegetables by three fungal species

The effect of three fungal species on the nutrient profile of onions and cucumbers was studied. The species identities of the fungal isolates were initially determined based on macro- and micro-morphological characters as well as molecular confirmation, using the internal transcribed spacer region. The isolates were confirmed as Neocosmospora ramosa (MG682504), Aspergillus tamarii (MG682505) and A. violaceofuscus (MG682503). We then used each fungus to induce biodeterioration and performed proximate analysis of nutrient breakdown. We also assayed each fungus for the production of mycotoxins and performed anti-fungal susceptibility tests using fluconazole and voriconazole. We found that N. ramosa facilitated the highest rate of biodeterioration for onions and cucumber. Our anti-fungal tests revealed that non-aflatoxigenic A. tamarii was susceptible to voriconazole, but resistant to fluconazole. A. violaceofuscus (also non-aflatoxigenic) was found to be susceptible to both anti-fungals, while N. ramosa was resistant to both the anti-fungals tested. This study underscores the ability of fungi to degrade vegetables, and the need to focus on intervention through both chemical and best practices.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio