Behind the Seeds - The Impact of Seasonal Differences and Fermentation on Lipid Components in Cocoa Butter

Cocoa butter is essential to the chocolate and cosmetics industries, making it a highly valued commodity. Research has mainly focused on the predominant lipids in cocoa butter, triglycerides. This project aims to determine if composition differences due to genotype, growing season, and fermentation time on triglycerides apply to minor lipid components in cocoa butter, thereby increasing our understanding of the composition of cocoa butter to aid in future efforts to create new cacao varieties.