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•Description of cocoa production chain and residual biomass generation.•Cocoa by-products as a source of high-value-added molecules.•Biotechnology as an alternative for the ...biotransformation of cocoa by-products.•Relevance of sustainability, innovation and technology in cocoa industry.
Cocoa beans provide raw materials for global food industries valued in excess of $47 billion in world exportations. Through on-farm processing, about 80% of cocoa fruit is discarded as residual biomass, including cocoa pod husks, cocoa bean shells and cocoa sweatings. Farmers routinely discard these residues/by-products during the initial cocoa bean processing steps, occupying vast areas and raising social and environmental concerns. Alternatively, this residual biomass is used as cocoa tree fertilizer. However, its disposal is performed without proper treatment, resulting in putrid odors and plant diseases. Recently, some studies have reported the use of cocoa by-products in the production of high-value-adding molecules with potential applications in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In this aspect, biotechnological approaches have been shown to be a viable alternative for the transformation of this residual biomass into fine products. This article reviews the biotechnological approaches implemented for the management and exploitation of cocoa by-product. Related topics on cocoa production and residual biomass generation, sustainability and valorization of cocoa chain are addressed and discussed.
Context. Over the past decades, several interplanetary missions have studied small bodies in situ, leading to major advances in our understanding of their geological and geophysical properties. These ...missions, however, have had a limited number of targets. Among them, the NASA Dawn mission has characterised in detail the topography and albedo variegation across the surface of asteroid (4) Vesta down to a spatial resolution of ~20 m pixel−1 scale. Aims. Here our aim was to determine how much topographic and albedo information can be retrieved from the ground with VLT/SPHERE in the case of Vesta, having a former space mission (Dawn) providing us with the ground truth that can be used as a benchmark. Methods. We observed Vesta with VLT/SPHERE/ZIMPOL as part of our ESO large programme (ID 199.C-0074) at six different epochs, and deconvolved the collected images with a parametric point spread function (PSF). We then compared our images with synthetic views of Vesta generated from the 3D shape model of the Dawn mission, on which we projected Vesta’s albedo information. Results. We show that the deconvolution of the VLT/SPHERE images with a parametric PSF allows the retrieval of the main topographic and albedo features present across the surface of Vesta down to a spatial resolution of ~20–30 km. Contour extraction shows an accuracy of ~1 pixel (3.6 mas). The present study provides the very first quantitative estimate of the accuracy of ground-based adaptive-optics imaging observations of asteroid surfaces. Conclusions. In the case of Vesta, the upcoming generation of 30–40 m telescopes (ELT, TMT, GMT) should in principle be able to resolve all of the main features present across its surface, including the troughs and the north–south crater dichotomy, provided that they operate at the diffraction limit.
: The unavoidable damage of açai (Euterpe oleracea) fruits (AF) during picking leads to microbial contamination and anthocyanin degradation, which prejudice the consumed fruit drink. Thirteen lots ...of AF (24 kg) from different municipal districts of the Pará State (Brazil) were monitored during a 75‐h‐long storage in the dark at 30 °C for microbial growth, and 7 lots for anthocyanin degradation. On arrival at the laboratory, anthocyanins presented a mean concentration of 828 mg kg−1 fruits with a standard deviation of 323 mg kg−1 fruits whereas mean microbial contamination was 2.64 106 CFU g−1 of dry matter for total mesophilic bacteria, 1.98 103 MPN g−1 DM for fecal coliforms, and 1.11 105 CFU g−1 DM for moulds and yeasts. Kinetic growth of the microbes could be fitted to a quadratic equation with an unusual rapid growth during the 1st 24 h. The kinetics of anthocyanin degradation fitted a 1st‐order equation. The mean velocity constant of the reaction (k1) was of 0.0137 h−1 and the mean half‐life (t½) of the anthocyanins was 50 h. These results indicate that the AF simultaneously suffer extensive anthocyanin degradation and explosive microbial growth during the postharvest period needing a special care.
Practical Application: The data presented in this article help the industrial sector of açai (Euterpe oleracea) juice to understand: (1) the rapid kinetics of anthocyanin oxidation and (2) the uncommon kinetics of microorganism growth during a postharvest storage of açai fruits for up to 75 h. Our results allow to predict the global deterioration of açai fruits and pointed out the necessity of blanching the fruits or pasteurizing the juice.
The total phenolics, anthocyanins, flavan 3-ols, carotenoids and antioxidant capacity of mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum Ruiz & Pavón) tubers from 10 yellow and purple cultivars were determined at ...different maturity stages (5-7.5 months after planting) and sunning post-harvest storage periods (7-35 days). Both the antioxidant capacity (ORAC and ABTS assays) and the content of the bioactive compounds tested varied markedly between cultivars. Purple varieties reached the highest antioxidant capacity during tuber development (271-446 μmol Trolox equiv g-1 DM, ORAC assay). The kinetics of accumulation or disappearance of the bioactive compounds tested during maturation was dependent both on the cultivar and on the compound considered. For anthocyanins, there was a marked increase during maturation in all the purple cultivars. During the sunning post-harvest storage, the changes in antioxidant capacity (ABTS assay) and content of the bioactive compounds tested also varied between cultivars. A marked decrease in anthocyanins was observed for the anthocyanin-containing cultivars. In general, the correlation between antioxidant capacity and the content of bioactive compounds varied markedly between cultivars. Antioxidant capacity in purple varieties correlated with total phenolics or flavan 3-ols while only in some yellow varieties antioxidant capacity correlated with total phenolics.
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