Insight of polyphenol oxidase enzyme inhibition and total polyphenol recovery from cocoa beans

A full factorial design (ascorbic acid/L-cysteine inhibitors, temperature, and time as factors) study was conducted to enhance inhibition of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity without decreasing cocoa polyphenol concentrations. The data obtained were modelled through a new equation, represented by T, which correlates both high polyphenol content with reduced specific PPO activity. At optimized values (70 mM inhibitory solution at 96 °C for 6.4 min, Γ=11.6), 93.3% PPO inhibition and total polyphenol of 94.9 mg GAE/g were obtained. In addition, microscopy images confirmed the cell morphological changes measured as the fractal dimension and explained the possible cell lysis and denaturation as a result of heat treatment and chemical inhibitors. Results also showed that PPO enzyme was most suitable (higher v_max/K_m ratio) for catechol, witha reduction in its affinity of 13.7-fold after the inhibition heat treatment. Overall, this work proposed a suitable and food-safe procedure for obtaining enriched polyphenol extract with low enzyme activity.