The cocoa botanical and geographical origin and the primary processing steps applied by cocoa farmers at the beginning of the supply chain influence the chemical compositional traits of the cocoa beans. These features are carried along the supply chain as intrinsic markers up to the final products. These intrinsic markers could be used for tracking and tracing purposes. In this study, we examined the retention and loss of compositional signatures from cocoa beans to chocolates. Volatile, elemental and stable isotope signatures of cocoa beans of 10 different origins and 11 corresponding chocolates were determined by high sensitivity-proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry (HS-PTR-MS), inductively coupled plasma-MS (ICP-MS) and isotope ratio-MS (IR-MS), respectively. The volatile fingerprints provided mostly information on the origin and primary processing traits of the raw cocoa beans in the chocolates. Volatile compounds that are relevant markers include: acetic acid (m/z 61), benzene (m/z 79), pyridine (m/z 80), 2-phenylethanol (m/z 123), and maltol (m/z 127). On the other hand, the elemental and stable isotope characteristics are more indicative of the cocoa content and added ingredients. Possible elemental markers for cocoa origin include Fe, Cr, and Cd. VOCs appear to be the most robust markers carried from cocoa beans to chocolates of the groups examined. This provides the potential for track and trace of cocoa beans from farm to chocolates.

可可的植物和地理起源以及可可豆种植者在供应链开始时采用的主要加工步骤会影响可可豆的化学成分特征。这些功能作为最终产品的内在标记贯穿整个供应链。这些内在标记可以用于跟踪和跟踪目的。在这项研究中，我们检查了可可豆到巧克力中成分标记的保留和丢失。通过高灵敏度质子转移反应质谱（HS-PTR-MS），电感耦合等离子体质谱（ICP-MS）和同位素测定了10种不同来源的可可豆和11种相应巧克力的挥发性，元素和稳定同位素特征比率质谱（IR-MS）。挥发性指纹大部分提供了有关巧克力中可可豆的来源和主要加工特性的信息。相关标记的挥发性化合物包括：乙酸（m / z 61），苯（m / z 79），吡啶（m / z 80），2-苯乙醇（m / z 123）和麦芽酚（m / z 127） ）。另一方面，元素和稳定的同位素特征更表明可可含量和添加的成分。可可来源的可能元素标记包括Fe，Cr和Cd。VOC似乎是从可可豆到所研究组的巧克力中最牢固的标记。这为从农场到巧克力追踪和追溯可可豆提供了潜力。吡啶（m / z 80），2-苯基乙醇（m / z 123）和麦芽酚（m / z 127）。另一方面，元素和稳定的同位素特征更表明可可含量和添加的成分。可可来源的可能元素标记包括Fe，Cr和Cd。VOC似乎是从可可豆到所研究组的巧克力中最牢固的标记。这为从农场到巧克力追踪和追溯可可豆提供了潜力。吡啶（m / z 80），2-苯基乙醇（m / z 123）和麦芽酚（m / z 127）。另一方面，元素和稳定的同位素特征更表明可可含量和添加的成分。可可来源的可能元素标记包括Fe，Cr和Cd。VOC似乎是从可可豆到所研究组的巧克力中最牢固的标记。这为从农场到巧克力追踪和追溯可可豆提供了潜力。