This industry-inspired and progress-driven project is devoted to the identification and analysis of bio-markers responsible for taste and flavor as well as quality and mixing properties of cocoa beans, fermentation results, and processing reaction intermediates during chocolate production. In cooperation with the world-leading cocoa producer, Barry Callebaut AG, a consortium of researchers from microbiology, protein biochemistry, analytical chemistry, biotechnology, and systems biology at Jacobs University is investigating the differences in chemical properties of cocoa beans from different origins, different fermentations conditions, and different processing steps. The particualr role of the Ullrich lab is in the proteomics and peptidomics analysis of cocoa thus identifying major precursors of taste and aroma contributing compounds.
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