Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Aug 9;7(8):e07738.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07738. eCollection 2021 Aug.

Traceability of polyphenols in cocoa during the postharvest and industrialization processes and their biological antioxidant potential

Maritza Gil  1   2   3   4 , Diego Uribe  3   5 , Vanessa Gallego  4 , Carolina Bedoya  4   6 , Sandra Arango-Varela  3   5
Affiliations
Review

Traceability of polyphenols in cocoa during the postharvest and industrialization processes and their biological antioxidant potential

Maritza Gil et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Noncommunicable diseases, the leading cause of mortality around the world, are responsible for approximately 75% of premature adult deaths (ages 30-69). To tackle this issue, a healthy diet based on functional foods, including cocoa and its derivatives, has been increasingly promoted. The polyphenols present in cocoa have been of interest due to their antioxidant potential and their possible protective role in the context of noncommunicable diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. However, during cocoa postharvest and industrialization, the concentration of these bioactive compounds is reduced, possibly affecting their health-promoting properties. Therefore, this paper reviews in the literature in this field to find the total polyphenol content in cocoa during the postharvest and industrialization processes in order to define concentration ranges as a reference point for future research. In addition, it discusses in vitro and in vivo studies into the biological antioxidant potential of cocoa and its derivatives. This review covers publications in indexed databases from 2010 to 2020, their data were processed and presented here using box plots. As a result, we identified the concentration ranges of polyphenols depending on the type of matrix, treatment and country, as well as their relationship with the main bioactive compounds present in cocoa that are associated with their possible antioxidant biological potential and health-related benefits.

Keywords: Biological antioxidant potential; Chocolate; Cocoa industrialization; Cocoa postharvest; Noncommunicable diseases; Polyphenols; Theobroma cacao L..

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structure of the main phenolic compounds present in cocoa and derivatives reported in previous studies [4, 8].
Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structure of the main phenolic compounds present in cocoa and derivatives reported in previous studies [4, 8].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Filters used in the search equation to select the articles for the literature review.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Box plots of ranges of total polyphenols present in the matrices, (a) unfermented, (b) fermented, (c) dried, (d) roasted, (e) cocoa liquor, (f) cocoa powder and (g) chocolate matrices classified by the location where the study was conducted.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization . 2018. Noncommunicable Diseases Country Profiles 2018, Geneva.
    1. Zhang Y.J., Gan R.Y., Li S., Zhou Y., Li A.N., Xu D.P., Bin Li H., Kitts D.D. Antioxidant phytochemicals for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. Molecules. 2015;20:21138–21156. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wootton-Beard P.C., Ryan L. Improving public health?: the role of antioxidant-rich fruit and vegetable beverages. Food Res. Int. 2011;44:3135–3148.
    1. Martín M.A., Ramos S. Cocoa polyphenols in oxidative stress : potential health implications. J. Funct. Foods. 2016;27:570–588.
    1. Cerri M., Reale L., Zadra C. Metabolite storage in theobroma cacao L. Seed: cyto-histological and phytochemical analyses. Front. Plant Sci. 2019;10:1–11. - PMC - PubMed