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La investigación realizada busca dar a conocer los factores que influyeron a las exportaciones de la granilla de cacao a Corea del Sur durante los años 2013-2017. En el primer capítulo se expone los aspectos relacionados con las oportunidades del mercado en cuanto a tendencias y también relacionadas al producto por sus características y beneficios; mencionamos la definición, origen, variedades, especificaciones y proceso de producción de la granilla de cacao para su exportación y conceptos relacionados con los superfoods. Además, se investigó sobre el mercado objetivo Corea del sur, sus características, intercambio comercial, tratados vigentes, estrategias de marketing y comercialización. Hemos incluido el tema de la logística que involucre el traslado a destino con las medidas sanitarias correspondientes, empaques y embalajes solicitados. Todas estas medidas son importantes a tener en cuenta para una correcta exportación. En el segundo capítulo desarrollamos el sustento de la investigación. La metodología de investigación utilizada es la de tipo cualitativa, descriptiva-explicativa y la validamos mediante entrevistas a exportadores, organismos públicos y expertos. Además, se describen en la recolección de datos las experiencias que observamos. En el tercer capítulo, procedemos a utilizar los datos recopilados, llevando los resultados por diferentes categorías y segmentos. En el cuarto capítulo discutimos sobre los resultados de las entrevistas los cuales nos ayudaron a identificar los factores de exportación para la granilla de cacao al mercado Sur Coreano en los años 2013-2017, incluyendo los hallazgos, barreras y brechas de nuestra investigación. Finalmente, detallamos las conclusiones y recomendaciones de este tema. / The research carried out seeks to reveal the factors that influenced the export of cacao beans to South Korea during the years 2013-2017. In the first chapter, the details of the aspects related to market opportunities are exposed in terms of trends and related to the product by its characteristics and benefits. We also mention the definition, origin, varieties, specifications and production process of cocoa beans for publication, as well as the details of their benefits and the nutritional aspect and concepts related to superfoods. In addition, it was investigated on the target market of South Korea, its characteristics, commercial exchange, and marketing strategies. Similarly, we have included the issue of logistics involving the product in the country of destination that indicates the corresponding sanitary measures with the packaging and packaging requested by the final buyer. In the second chapter, we developed the sustenance of the research. The research methodology is based on the kind of qualitative, descriptive-explanatory and validity through interviews with the exporters, public bodies and experts. Additionally, the collection of data of the experiences and processes we observed during the interviews. In the third chapter, we will use the collected data, considering the results of different categories and segments. In the fourth chapter, we discussed the results of the interviews that helped us identify the communication factors for cocoa beans in the South Korean market in the years 2013-2017, including the findings, barriers and gaps of our research. / Tesis

La qualità delle fave di cacao disponibili in commercio, che rappresentano la principale materia prima per la produzione di cioccolato, dipende da diversi fattori inclusi: il tipo di piantagione, le pratiche agricole ed il processo di post raccolta. Tra queste; fermentazione ed essicazzione sono generalmente considerate le più rilevanti, dal momento in cui, durante queste fasi, vengono formati e fissati i precursori degli aromi del cacao. Inoltre, esse rappresentano un step cruciale durante il quale possono verificarsi contaminazioni da parte dei funghi filamentosi. La fermentazione è caratterizzata da una successione ben definita di lieviti, batteri lattici e batteri acetici, a tal fine, lo scopo del presente lavoro di tesi è stato quello di esplorare e descrivere in modo completo le comunità batteriche e fungine coinvolte nella fermentazione delle fave di cacao e valutare se l’origine geografica ed il metodo di fermentazione potessero influenzare la loro composizione. Per ottenere tali risultati il gene 16s rRNA è stato usato come marker per descrivere la comunità batterica totale mediante High Throughput Sequencing (HTS), dimostrando come tale approccio abbia la capacità di evidenziare la totalità delle comunità batteriche a livello di specie. In un secondo approccio l’Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 (ITS1) ed il dominio D1/D2 della sub unità maggiore dell’RNA ribosomiale (26s rRNA) sono stati selezionati per descrivere la popolazione fungina. I risultati hanno evidenziato come le due regioni abbiano la capacità di descrivere la composizione generale delle popolazioni, sebbene il dominio D1/D2 sia stato in grado di analizzare più nel dettaglio la composizione. Infine gli stessi campioni sottoposti all’analisi mediante HTS sono stati analizzati mediante SPME-GC-MS per evidenziare i principali composti aromatici formatisi durante il processo di post raccolta. Complessivamente i risultati indicano chiaramente che l’approccio mediante HTS ha le potenzialità per fornire una dettagliata visione d’insieme delle comunità batteriche e fungine presenti durante le fasi di post raccolta delle fave di cacao, inoltre le analisi statistiche hanno evidenziato come l’ITS1 ed i composti volatili possano essere utilizzati per la tracciabilità geografica. / The quality of commercial cocoa beans, the principal raw material for chocolate production, depends on several factors including type of plantations, the agricultural practices and the post-harvest processing. Among these, fermentation and drying are generally considered the most relevant, since during these phases cocoa flavors precursors are formed and fixed. Furthermore, they represent crucial steps during which filamentous fungi contamination might occur. Fermentation is characterized by a well-defined succession of yeasts, lactic acid bacteria and acetic acid bacteria, so that, the aim of the described studies was to explore total bacterial and fungal communities involved in cocoa bean fermentation and to evaluate if geographical origin and fermentation method might affect their composition. To achieve these results, 16s rRNA gene was used as marker to assess the total bacterial community by using High Throughput Sequencing (HTS), indicating that this approach has the ability to provide a comprehensive view of the cocoa bean microbiota at the species level. In a second approach, Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 (ITS1) and the D1/D2 domain of the Large subunit (LSU) of the nuclear ribosomal RNA (26S rRNA) were screened to assess the total fungal community. Results revealed the ability of these two genomic regions to describe reliably the general composition, even if D1/D2domain was able to go deeper into the fungal composition resulting in a higher resolution. In the last approach the same samples subjected to HTS investigation were analyzed through SPME-GC-MS in order to underline the principal key-aroma compounds formed during the post-harvest processing. Overall, results point out clearly that HTS approach has the ability to provide a comprehensive view of the total bacterial and fungal communities, and statistical analyses have shown how analyses of ITS1 sequences and volatile compounds might be useful for the geographical traceability of the processed cocoa beans samples.

This doctoral thesis was conducted in the framework of a co-supervised PhD between the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Sciences of the University of Turin and the Unit of Pharmacognosy, Bioanalysis and Drug Discovery of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Université libre de Bruxelles. The present manuscript was conceived as a thesis of articles and is composed of 9 different scientific publications. The general introduction of the work was issued from a published narrative review, while the result and discussion part is composed by eight chapters based on different scientific articles issued from the PhD project. The cocoa bean shell (CBS) is the external tegument that covers the cocoa bean, and is one of the major by-products in cocoa industry. It is normally discarded or underutilized, which could result in economical and environmental issues. However, CBS represents a notable source of polyphenols and methylxanthines (theobromine and caffeine) which can give it different biofunctionalities such as antioxidant and antidiabetic properties, among others. It also contains high amounts of dietary fiber (about 50% w/w), minerals, vitamins, and proteins. CBS has low-fat content, and interesting cocoa-aroma compounds. All this could make CBS useful as a food ingredient, and source of biofunctional compounds. The first part of the experimental work of this thesis is devoted to the chemical characterization of CBS and the establishment of its polyphenolic and volatile organic compound (aroma) profiles. The utilization of such profiles, determined by both complete characterization methods and screening methods, was also proposed for authentication purposes of CBS depending on its geographical origin and variety. In a second step, the utilization of CBS as a low-cost food ingredient for functional food production was envisaged. CBS-based beverages and biscuits were proposed as model foods. The influence of the CBS addition to the model foods was evaluated from both technological and nutritional points of view. Changes on the physicochemical characteristics of the model foods were assessed as well as their content in compounds of interest and potential biofunctionalities. Moreover, these studies served also to evaluate the effect of the different food matrices on the bioaccessibility and intestinal permeability of the bioactive compounds contained in CBS. In the third and last part of this work, a different utility was given to the study of the cocoa by-product. The antimicrobial potential of CBS was assessed against different bacterial and fungal strains and a metabolomic strategy was applied in order to individualize the putative active compounds against the Streptococcus mutans proliferation. This work was a contribution for the valorization of a high add-value product such as the CBS, and a step towards a zero-waste cocoa industry within the frame of sustainable circular economy. / Doctorat en Sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques (Pharmacie) / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished