IRES Track I: The Broad Impact of Flavor. A Research Experience on Metabolomics of Microbial Populations during Cacao Fermentation at the Escuela Superior Politecnica de Litoral

IRES 轨道 I：风味的广泛影响。

• 批准号: 2107424
• 负责人: Koushik Adhikari
• 金额: $ 29.61万
• 依托单位: University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2107424&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IRES; Track; Broad; Impact; Flavor.

Centered on the development of the complex flavor profile of fine flavor cacao during fermentation, this IRES aims at enhancing the global and scientific competency of the student participants. This program promotes the participation of minorities and underrepresented students in STEM disciplines. The craft chocolate industry has grown rapidly over the last decade in the US and other parts of the world. The global trade of fermented and dried cocoa beans affects the lives of millions of individuals from cacao growers to chocolate manufacturers and the consumer. About 5% of the cacao produced in the world is from varieties that produce high quality chocolate, with Ecuador as one of the largest producers of such varieties. However, the large variability in the quality of fermented beans affects the quality, acceptability, and value of the chocolate produced. The variability in the quality of fermented cacao also lowers the price that local cacao growers, mostly smallholders, are paid. Despite its impact on flavor, of all the stages of chocolate production, cacao fermentation remains the most complex and the least studied. In this IRES project, U.S. students will participate in multidisciplinary research to better understand and control the variability of cacao fermentation in Ecuador. Students will learn research methods, experiment design, chemical analysis, food microbiology, sensory analysis, and multivariate data analysis. Every year, for three years, cohorts of two graduate and two undergraduate students from across the U.S. will be immersed for 8 weeks in a diverse team in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Students will be mentored by cross-disciplinary faculty from the University of Georgia, and from the Center for Biotechnology Research of Ecuador (CBRE), as well as by the quality manager at KAOKA, a French chocolate manufacturer with fermentation operations in Ecuador. In this international industry-academia collaboration, students will participate in laboratory and field research where they will further their scientific, professional, and sociocultural skills. Our research goal is to consistently produce high-quality cocoa products through controlled fermentations. Students from each cohort will work on one of five subthemes that aim at characterizing the sources of variability, harnessing them, and designing systems and procedures that minimize variability. Research activities with scientific mentors and local students at CBRE include analyzing the chemical composition of fresh cocoa beans using a metabolomics approach that encompasses advanced chromatographic methods and multivariate analysis. This approach will help elucidating the variability of the raw material and correlating the principal components to the quality of the fermented beans. At KAOKA, students will learn the daily operation of a large fermentation facility and interact with technical staff and workers to design and execute field experiments. Students will characterize the chemical composition and analyze the evolution of the microbial populations to identify means of measuring and controlling the progress of the fermentation. Students will also analyze the composition of chocolate produced from different fermentation batches to assess how composition affects the flavor complexity and the duration of the organoleptic experience and strategize means of producing the best quality attributes. Finally, informed by all the previous studies, some of the participants will design and optimize a small-scale fermenter for smallholders. The dissemination of this IRES is expected to inspire other students from minorities and underrepresented groups to pursue STEM careers and participate in similar experiences. This research is expected to benefit the growing U.S. craft chocolate industry and contribute to eventually help cacao smallholders and their communities. This new knowledge likely to positively impact the fermentation of other cacao cultivars in other regions and to contribute to the U.S. leadership in science-driven development efforts in developing countries.This project is jointly funded by the International Research Experiences for Students program (IRES) and the Division of Biological Infrastructure.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

围绕发酵过程中优质可可的复杂风味特征的发展，该IRES旨在提高学生参与者的全球和科学能力。该计划促进少数民族和代表性不足的学生参与STEM学科。过去十年，精酿巧克力行业在美国和世界其他地区迅速发展。发酵和干燥可可豆的全球贸易影响着从可可种植者到巧克力制造商和消费者的数百万人的生活。世界上大约5%的可可豆来自生产高品质巧克力的品种，厄瓜多尔是这些品种的最大生产国之一。然而，发酵豆质量的巨大差异影响了巧克力的质量、可接受性和价值。发酵可可质量的变化也降低了当地可可种植者（主要是小农）的价格。尽管可可发酵对风味有影响，但在巧克力生产的所有阶段中，可可发酵仍然是最复杂和研究最少的。在这个IRES项目中，美国学生将参与多学科研究，以更好地了解和控制厄瓜多尔可可发酵的变化。学生将学习研究方法，实验设计，化学分析，食品微生物学，感官分析和多元数据分析。三年来，每年，来自美国各地的两名研究生和两名本科生将在厄瓜多尔瓜亚基尔的一个多元化团队中沉浸8周。学生将由来自格鲁吉亚大学和厄瓜多尔生物技术研究中心（CBRE）的跨学科教师以及法国巧克力制造商KAOKA的质量经理进行指导。在这种国际产学合作中，学生将参加实验室和实地研究，在那里他们将进一步提高他们的科学，专业和社会文化技能。我们的研究目标是通过控制发酵持续生产高品质的可可产品。每个组群的学生将致力于五个子主题之一，旨在描述可变性的来源，利用它们，并设计最大限度地减少可变性的系统和程序。与世邦魏理仕的科学导师和当地学生一起开展的研究活动包括使用代谢组学方法分析新鲜可可豆的化学成分，该方法包括先进的色谱方法和多变量分析。这种方法将有助于阐明原料的可变性，并将主要成分与发酵豆的质量相关联。 在KAOKA，学生将学习大型发酵设施的日常操作，并与技术人员和工人互动，设计和执行现场实验。学生将描述化学成分并分析微生物种群的演变，以确定测量和控制发酵进程的方法。学生还将分析从不同发酵批次生产的巧克力的组成，以评估组成如何影响风味复杂性和感官体验的持续时间，并制定生产最佳质量属性的策略。最后，根据所有以前的研究，一些参与者将为小农户设计和优化小规模发酵罐。预计IRES的传播将激励来自少数民族和代表性不足群体的其他学生追求STEM职业并参与类似的经历。这项研究预计将有利于不断增长的美国工艺巧克力行业，并有助于最终帮助可可小农及其社区。这一新知识可能会对其他地区其他可可品种的发酵产生积极影响，并有助于美国在发展中国家科学驱动的发展努力中发挥领导作用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过评估使用的支持基金会的学术价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。