Characteristic of chocolate candy produce from cocoa bean fermentation with Lactobacillus Plantarum Hl-15 culture

Chocolate candy is a food product that liked many people. The presence of mycotoxin producing fungi is a problem in chocolate product.The objective of this research is to observe the characteristic of chocolate candy produce from cocoa bean fermentation with L. plantarum HL-15 culture. The cocoa bean (47.5 kg) was fermented by adding L. plantarum HL-15 culture about 500 mL (10¹⁰ CFU/mL) in the new and old fermentation box and in the another new and old fermentationbox without adding culture. Chocolate candy processing is done based on standard processing of chocolate candy. The results shown that the addition of L. plantarum HL-15 culture in cocoa bean fermentation and use of the new fermentation box give lower fungi concentration on chocolate candy, reduce 1 log cycle from 1.7 x 10³ to < 10² colony/g. While, the addition of L. plantarum HL-15 culture in the old fermentation box is not effect.The average aw value of chocolate candy is 0.64 and pH value is 6.7. Fat content of chocolate candy about 44.9 % - 46.2 %.

Dr. Titiek Farianti Djaafar is currently working as a Researcher in Postharvest Department at Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology Yogyakarta, Indonesia. She published many articles in reputed journals and attended international conferences.