Abstract
Abstract Background Cocoa, derived from Theobroma cacao , is a popular food ingredient used to produce chocolate. Cocoa is rich in polyphenols and human and laboratory model studies have indicated that cocoa and chocolate can mitigate chronic inflammatory conditions. Cocoa is subjected to post‐harvest processing operations including fermentation and roasting prior to use. These steps, which are essential for flavor development, have been shown to lead to changes in the content and profile of polyphenols in cocoa. Less is known about the effect of these operations on the bioactivity of cocoa. The present study compared the impact of using superheated steam (SHS) versus hot air (HA) as a roasting medium for cocoa beans on in vitro phospholipase A 2 (PLA 2 ) inhibitory activity, a surrogate for anti‐inflammatory activity, and polyphenol chemistry. Results Beans were roasted at 150 °C (10, 20, 30 min), 175 °C (8, 15 min) and 200 °C (7 min) using SHS or HA. The median inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) against PLA 2 of extracts from SHS beans at 175 °C was 50% lower than comparable HA beans. Although total phenolic content in HA beans for all roasting treatments was 20% to 33% higher than SHS beans, the levels of proanthocyanidin (PAC) tetramer and pentamer in beans roasted at 175 °C for 8 min were 23% and 36% higher, respectively, than those roasted using HA. Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that SHS roasting could be used to produce beans with greater anti‐inflammatory activity and higher levels of key PACs in comparison with HA. © 2026 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
The IC50 against PLA2 of extracts from cocoa beans roasted with superheated steam at 175 C was 50% lower than that of comparable hot-air-roasted beans.
Verbatim
e0“The median inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) against PLA 2 of extracts from SHS beans at 175 °C was 50% lower than comparable HA beans”
t0“cocoa beans”
Claim · model-written summary
Total phenolic content in hot-air-roasted beans was 20% to 33% higher than in superheated-steam-roasted beans across all roasting treatments.
Verbatim
e0“total phenolic content in HA beans for all roasting treatments was 20% to 33% higher than SHS beans”
t0“cocoa beans”
Claim · model-written summary
Proanthocyanidin tetramer levels in beans roasted at 175 C for 8 min were 23% higher than in beans roasted using hot air.
Verbatim
e0“the levels of proanthocyanidin (PAC) tetramer and pentamer in beans roasted at 175 °C for 8 min were 23% and 36% higher, respectively, than those roasted using HA”
Claim · model-written summary
Proanthocyanidin pentamer levels in beans roasted at 175 C for 8 min were 36% higher than in beans roasted using hot air.
Verbatim
e0“the levels of proanthocyanidin (PAC) tetramer and pentamer in beans roasted at 175 °C for 8 min were 23% and 36% higher, respectively, than those roasted using HA”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors conclude that superheated steam roasting could be used to produce cocoa beans with greater anti-inflammatory activity and higher levels of key PACs than hot air roasting.
Verbatim
e0“SHS roasting could be used to produce beans with greater anti-inflammatory activity and higher levels of key PACs in comparison with HA”
t0“cocoa beans”