Dark chocolates organoleptic differences: a PTR-ToF-MS success story

International audience; Aroma of dark chocolate depends on process and cocoa origin and variety. Repeated sensory analyses of standardized chocolates produced from various cocoa beans batches using a standard fabrication process allowed classifying them into four sensory categories. These categories were confirmed in a PTR-ToF-MS analysis of the volatilome of 206 chocolate samples through supervised multivariate data analyses (PLS-DA). Variable selection using dedicated methods pinpointed some volatile compounds important for the discrimination of the chocolates. Moreover, the nosespace of a subset of chocolates was measured by twelve assessors using PTR-ToF-MS with simultaneous determinati…