Sugar content in cocoa during fermentation

The cocoa or coca bean is the source of chocolate. Cocoa differs from chocolate in fat and sugar content. Soluble carbohydrates present include stachyose, raffinose, and sucrose, glucose and fructose.

In unfermented seeds, sucrose comprises about 90% of the total sugars. Fructose plus glucose make up only about 6%. During fermentation sucrose decreases, where as fructose and glucose increased after the death of the beans.

The final content of these sugars varies considerably in fermented beans of various origins, most likely owing to the type and the extent of curing. Increasing fermentation time decreased the concentrations of the fermentable sugars (reducing sugars) in the pulp at all pod storage period.

Sucrose hydrolysis, which occurs during fermentation of the beans, provides the reducing sugar pool important for aroma formation during the roasting process.

Sucrose content in well-fermented raw cocoa is near zero but fructose and glucose increase up to about 0.6%. The pulp is not only viscous due to its sugar content but also due to a relatively high content of pectin and other polysaccharides.
Sugar content in cocoa during fermentation