. 2023 Jan 11;12(2):340. doi: 10.3390/foods12020340

Table 2.

Free amino acids in fermented (six days) cocoa beans in comparison with unfermented cocoa and spontaneously fermented cocoa (control), expressed as mg/g of the total protein content.

Sample	Unfermented	Control	A	B	C	D	E
Asp	2.21 ± 0.02 ^a	3.13 ± 0.03 ^b	3.20 ± 0.03 ^b	3.30 ± 0.03 ^bc	3.70 ± 0.04 ^cd	3.54 ± 0.04 ^bcd	3.94 ± 0.04 ^d
Thr	0.37 ± 0.01 ^a	2.29 ± 0.03 ^b	2.21 ± 0.02 ^b	2.12 ± 0.02 ^b	2.51 ± 0.03 ^bc	2.41 ± 0.03 ^bc	2.74 ± 0.03 ^c
Ser	0.78 ± 0.01 ^a	2.49 ± 0.03 ^bc	2.35 ± 0.03 ^b	2.27 ± 0.03 ^b	2.82 ± 0.04 ^cd	2.50 ± 0.03 ^bc	3.02 ± 0.04 ^d
Asn	4.14 ± 0.06 ^abc	3.74 ± 0.05 ^a	4.49 ± 0.06 ^c	4.32 ± 0.06 ^bc	3.72 ± 0.05 ^a	3.96 ± 0.06 ^ab	3.92 ± 0.05 ^ab
Glu	4.68 ± 0.05 ^a	4.91 ± 0.06 ^ab	5.40 ± 0.06 ^c	5.52 ± 0.06 ^cd	5.24 ± 0.06 ^bc	5.52 ± 0.06 ^cd	5.85 ± 0.07 ^d
Gln	0.98 ± 0.07 ^b	0.58 ± 0.04 ^ab	0.51 ± 0.04 ^a	0.38 ± 0.03 ^a	0.48 ± 0.04 ^a	0.41 ± 0.03 ^a	0.43 ± 0.03 ^a
Gly	0.32 ± 0.01 ^a	1.07 ± 0.01 ^bc	1.06 ± 0.01 ^bc	0.92 ± 0.01 ^b	1.41 ± 0.02 ^c	1.20 ± 0.02 ^bc	1.33 ± 0.02 ^bc
Ala	1.46 ± 0.02 ^a	4.43 ± 0.07 ^b	4.62 ± 0.07 ^bc	4.80 ± 0.07 ^b	4.95 ± 0.07 ^c	4.89 ± 0.07 ^c	4.81 ± 0.07 ^b
Val	1.24 ± 0.01 ^a	4.05 ± 0.04 ^cd	3.74 ± 0.04 ^bc	3.53 ± 0.04 ^b	4.68 ± 0.05 ^ef	4.31 ± 0.05 ^de	5.03 ± 0.06 ^f
Met	0.06 ± 0.01 ^ab	0.79 ± 0.02 ^de	0.49 ± 0.01 ^bcd	0.28 ± 0.01 ^abc	1.22 ± 0.03 ^e	0.7 ± 0.02 ^cd	1.07 ± 0.03 ^de
Ile	0.97 ± 0.02 ^a	2.42 ± 0.05 ^bc	2.17 ± 0.05 ^b	2.07 ± 0.04 ^b	2.92 ± 0.06 ^de	2.65 ± 0.06 ^cd	3.24 ± 0.07 ^e
Leu	1.30 ± 0.03 ^a	7.91 ± 0.17 ^bc	7.49 ± 0.16 ^b	7.80 ± 0,17 ^bc	8.52 ± 0.19 ^de	8.17 ± 0.18 ^cd	8.74 ± 0.19 ^e
Tyr	1.77 ± 0.11 ^a	4.35 ± 0.26 ^bc	3.97 ± 0.24 ^b	4.06 ± 0.24 ^b	5.30 ± 0.32 ^d	4.63 ± 0.28 ^c	5.66 ± 0.34 ^d
Phe	1.28 ± 0.02 ^a	6.78 ± 0.09 ^c	6.29 ± 0.08 ^b	6.21 ± 0.08 ^b	7.93 ± 0.11 ^d	6.77 ± 0.09 ^c	8.12 ± 0.11 ^d
Gaba	4.77 ± 0.33 ^d	4.45 ± 0.31 ^cd	3.74 ± 0.26 ^a	3.95 ± 0.27 ^ab	4.63 ± 0.32 ^cd	4.27 ± 0.30 ^bc	4.74 ± 0.33 ^d
Orn	0.21 ± 0.01 ^a	0.12 ± 0.01 ^a	0.17 ± 0.01 ^a	0.12 ± 0.01 ^a	0.27 ± 0.01 ^a	0.30 ± 0.01 ^a	0.27 ± 0.01 ^a
Lys	0.76 ± 0.01 ^a	4.40 ± 0.04 ^c	3.93 ± 0.04 ^b	3.57 ± 0.03 ^b	5.32 ± 0.05 ^e	4.74 ± 0.05 ^cd	5.16 ± 0.05 ^de
His	2.57 ± 0.04 ^c	2.23 ± 0.04 ^abc	1.82 ± 0.03 ^a	1.82 ± 0.03 ^a	2.32 ± 0.04 ^bc	1.99 ± 0.03 ^ab	2.41 ± 0.04 ^bc
Arg	0.29 ± 0.01 ^a	0.26 ± 0.01 ^a	0.20 ± 0.01 ^a	0.14 ± 0.01 ^a	0.13 ± 0.01 ^a	0.15 ± 0.01 ^a	0.19 ± 0.01 ^a
Pro	1.34 ± 0.03 ^a	2.19 ± 0.04 ^bc	2.15 ± 0.04 ^bc	1.80 ± 0.04 ^b	2.40 ± 0.05 ^cd	2.04 ± 0.04 ^bc	2.82 ± 0.06 ^d
Total	31.50 ± 0.27 ^a	62.59 ± 0.53 ^d	60.00 ± 0.51 ^c	58.98 ± 0.50 ^b	70.47 ± 0.60 ^f	65.15 ± 0.55 ^e	73.49 ± 0.62 ^g

A: inoculated with L. fabifermentans at t₀; B: inoculated with L. fabifermentans at t₀ and t₄₈; C: inoculated with F. rossiae at t₀; D: inoculated with F. rossiae at t₀ and t₄₈; E: inoculated with both strains at t₀ and t₄₈. Different letters in each row indicate statistical differences (Tukey’s test, p < 0.05).