Detailed analysis of the microbial population in Malaysian spontaneous cocoa pulp fermentations reveals a core and variable microbiota

PloS One
Esther MeersmanKevin J Verstrepen

Abstract

The fermentation of cocoa pulp is one of the few remaining large-scale spontaneous microbial processes in today's food industry. The microbiota involved in cocoa pulp fermentations is complex and variable, which leads to inconsistent production efficiency and cocoa quality. Despite intensive research in the field, a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the microbiota is still lacking, especially for the expanding Asian production region. Here, we report a large-scale, comprehensive analysis of four spontaneous Malaysian cocoa pulp fermentations across two time points in the harvest season and two fermentation methods. Our results show that the cocoa microbiota consists of a "core" and a "variable" part. The bacterial populations show a remarkable consistency, with only two dominant species, Lactobacillus fermentum and Acetobacter pasteurianus. The fungal diversity is much larger, with four dominant species occurring in all fermentations ("core" yeasts), and a large number of yeasts that only occur in lower numbers and specific fermentations ("variable" yeasts). Despite this diversity, a clear pattern emerges, with early dominance of apiculate yeasts and late dominance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our results provide new insig...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 30, 2014·Annual Review of Microbiology·Jan Steensels, Kevin J Verstrepen
Mar 31, 2015·Cell·Benjamin E Wolfe, Rachel J Dutton
May 5, 2016·Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism·Ivan M Petyaev, Yuriy K Bashmakov
Nov 4, 2016·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Birgitte RegenbergJacobus J Boomsma
Mar 7, 2018·Journal of Food Science·Silvia Alejandra Villarreal-SotoPatricia Taillandier
Jul 8, 2015·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Esther MeersmanKevin J Verstrepen
May 19, 2020·FEMS Microbiology Reviews·Luc De Vuyst, Frédéric Leroy
Jul 17, 2020·FEMS Microbiology Reviews·Christina C SaakRachel J Dutton
Jan 9, 2016·Journal of Applied Microbiology·Luc De Vuyst, Stefan Weckx
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Apr 1, 2020·AIMS Microbiology·Maria ParapouliEfstathios Hatziloukas
Nov 13, 2020·Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology·A J RiveraC H Watson
May 1, 2017·Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety·Gulustan Ozturk, Glenn M Young
Feb 18, 2021·World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology·Priscila Vargas PereiraPatrícia Campos Bernardes
Apr 23, 2021·Scientific Reports·Miguel Fernández-NiñoAndrés Fernando González Barrios
Apr 23, 2021·Genes & Nutrition·Katherine J LiEdith J M Feskens
Jun 17, 2021·World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology·Jéssica A ViesserCarlos R Soccol
Jun 10, 2021·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·O G G Almeida, E C P De Martinis
Oct 17, 2017·Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry·Esther MeersmanJan Steensels
Oct 3, 2021·Journal of Applied Microbiology·Cristian Díaz-Muñoz, Luc De Vuyst

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
electrophoresis
PCR

Software Mentioned

BioNumerics

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