Abstract
Regular consumption of chocolate is associated with beneficial effects on health, particularly in pathologies associated with a chronic inflammatory syndrome. This inflammation involves the immune system and cocoa polyphenols appear to play a role in these effects via the NF-κb pathway. Cocoa processing processes and especially fermentation degrade the polyphenols contained in the beans. In fact, the fermentation alone reduces the content of the polyphenols initially present by 90%. It is therefore important to know its impact on the content and / or the composition of polyphenols in order to be able to associate them with the antioxydants and immunomodulatory activities of cocoa. A batch of Forastero variety cocoa beans was divided into two batches, the first fermented and the other not. After fat and cocoa polyphenols extraction, the total polyphenol content of the extracts was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. The chemical compounds present in the cocoa extracts have been identified by UPLC-MS / UV. The majority flavanols identified were quantified by LC / MSMS. The antioxidant activities of cocoa were evaluated with DPPH and ORAC test. To determine the immunomodulatory activities, the levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and nitric oxide (NO) were determined. Cell viability was done to evaluate the cytotoxicity of cocoa extracts on J774A.1 cells. This study showed that fermentation decreased the polyphenol content and correlated this phenol content with the antioxidant activities of the cocoa extracts. The extracts of fermented cocoa or not stimulated the production of TNF-α, however the study on the immunomodulatory activities deserves to be deepened because the fermented cocoa or not had no effect on the NO produced by the J774A cells. 1. In addition, the fermented or unfermented cocoa did not have any toxic effect on J 774A.1 cells. Fermentation influenced the immunomodulatory activities of cocoa according to the type of markers by decreasing the production of TNF-α.