Bioactive and flavor compounds in cocoa liquor and their traceability over the major steps of cocoa post-harvesting processes

[Display omitted] •Cocoa processing LC/GC-QTOF analysis showed global metabolome and lipidome shifts.•Drying’s impact on cocoa biochemistry was similar to fermentation and roasting.•22 bioactive and 41 flavor compounds were annotated in fine-flavor cocoa liquors. The production of fine-flavor cocoa represents a promising avenue to enhance socioeconomic development in Colombia and Latin America. Premium chocolate is obtained through a post-harvesting process, which relies on semi-standardized techniques. The change in the metabolic profile during cocoa processing considerably impacts flavor and nutraceutical properties of the final product. Understanding this impact considering both volatiles and non-volatile compounds is crucial for process and product re-engineering of cocoa post-harvesting. Consequently, this work studied the metabolic composition of cocoa liquor by untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics. This approach offered a comprehensive view of cocoa biochemistry, considering compounds associated with bioactivity and flavor in cocoa liquor. Their variations were traced back over the cocoa processing (i.e., drying, and roasting), highlighting their impact on flavor development and the nutraceutical properties. These results represent the basis for future studies aimed to re-engineer cocoa post-harvesting considering the variation of key flavor and bioactive compounds over processing.