Fifty-six cocoa bean samples from different origins and status of fermentation were analyzed by a validated hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (HILIC-ESI-TOF-MS) method. The profile of the low molecular weight carbohydrate (LMWC) was analyzed by high resolution and tandem mass spectrometry, which allowed the identification of mono-, di-, tri- and tetrasaccharides, sugar alcohols and iminosugars.

This study provides, for the first time in a large set of samples, a comprehensive absolute quantitative data set for the carbohydrates identified in cocoa beans (fructose, glucose, mannitol, myo-inositol, sucrose, melibiose, raffinose and stachyose). Differences in the content of carbohydrates were observed between unfermented (range of 0.9–4.9 g/g DM) and fermented (range 0.1–0.5 g/g DM) cocoa beans.

The use of multivariate statistical tools allowed the identification of biomarkers suitable for cocoa bean classification according to the status of fermentation, procedure of fermentation employed and number of days of fermentation.

通过验证的亲水相互作用液相色谱-电喷雾电离-飞行时间质谱（HILIC-ESI-TOF-MS）方法分析了来自不同来源和发酵状态的五十六种可可豆样品。通过高分辨率和串联质谱分析了低分子量碳水化合物（LMWC）的概况，从而鉴定了单糖，二糖，三糖和四糖，糖醇和亚氨基糖。

这项研究提供了，在一个大组样品的第一次，在可可豆（果糖，葡萄糖，甘露醇，确定了碳水化合物的综合绝对量化的数据集肌肌醇，蔗糖，蜜二糖，棉子糖和水苏糖）。在未发酵（0.9-4.9 g / g DM范围）和发酵（0.1-0.5 g / g DM范围）之间可观察到碳水化合物含量的差异。

多元统计工具的使用允许根据发酵状态，采用的发酵程序和发酵天数来确定适合可可豆分类的生物标记。