Effects of water blanching on polyphenol reaction kinetics and quality of cocoa beans

Several studies have been reported on the potential health benefits of cocoa polyphenols. However, drying has an inhibitory effect on the substantial recovery of cocoa polyphenols. This is majorly because of the high degradation of polyphenol compounds as well as the enhanced activity of polyphenol oxidases; a pre-cursor for browning of polyphenols during drying. Pre-treatment technique such as water blanching (80° and 90°C for 5 min, 10 min and 15 min exposure times respectively) can inactivate the polyphenol oxidases enzyme and promote high percent of the polyphenol recovery in dried cocoa bean. The degradation kinetics of cocoa polyphenols during hot water blanching are analyzed; The rate constant for the polyphenol degradation after blanching was found to be ranging from 0.0208 to 0.0340 /min. The results for dried fresh cocoa beans showed an optimal level of polyphenol recovery (118 mg GAE/g) when blanched at 90°C for 5 minutes duration. The antioxidant activity is also analyzed using DPPH scavenging assay.