Do you find Swiss and Belgian chocolates tastier than your country's own chocolate? If so, you might thank the yeast present in your chocolate for giving that distinctive taste. Diverse yeast population may give the difference in taste of chocolates and coffee that can be seen from different parts of the world, researchers said.
The authors sought to know which human activity have influenced the yeasts in the coffee and cacaos fermentation came from.
According to the study, wine production differs from the production of chocolate and coffee in a few vital aspects. Initially, the production of wine uses vessels in its fermentation like oak barrels, are exported to new areas where their yeast are native from its origin. As compared to chocolates and coffee, wherein the fermentation style used might have a population of yeast which is different from the area of origin.
"Humans have transported and cultivated the plants, but at least for one important species, their associated microbes have arisen from transport and mingling in events that are independent of the transport of the plants themselves," said Aimee Dudley of Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute in Seattle, U.S.A.
The researchers fermented the cacao beans' surrounding pulp through a microbe-driven process. The microbe-driven process used lactic acid bacteria and acetic acid bacteria to digest the surrounding pectinaceous pulp of the beans. The process has a vital role in the different characteristics of the beans such as flavor and color.
On the other hand, researchers found that the microbiota of coffee beans showed little yeasts in its fermentation. As compared to the natural way of fermenting the coffee through the digestion of its cherry pulp by coffee growers, the researchers attempted to culture live yeasts through unroasted coffee and cacao beans derived from different geographical and ecological niches.
Researchers said that the yeast strains seen from the chocolate and coffee making shows greater diversity than those yeast associated in making wines.
The findings published in the journal Current Biology, showed that the coffee and cocoa strains have multiple origins and the approach used in it can also isolate other microorganisms.
Coffee trees and cacao beans are now commonly grown across the "bean belt" which surrounds the equator but originally cultivated in Ethiopia and Amazon rain forest.
Photo: Mckay Savage | Flickr
