Fructophilic lactic acid bacteria (FLAB) are a recently discovered group whose main characteristic is to prefer D-fructose over D-glucose. In this study, laboratory cocoa beans fermentation was analyzed by Illumina-based amplicon sequencing, indicating the presence of potential FLAB of the genera Fructobacillus and Lactobacillus. Eighty efficient fructose-fermenting isolates, obtained from fermenting cocoa pulp beans mass, were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing as Pediococcus acidilactici (n = 52), Lactobacillus plantarum (n = 10), Pediococcus pentosaceus (n = 10), Bacillus subtilis (n = 4), and Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides (n = 4). The growth characteristics of all the 10 L. plantarum strains classified them as “facultatively” fructophilic bacteria, i.e., they grew on glucose without an external electron acceptor but the growth on fructose was faster. Among them, L. plantarum LPBF 35 was characterized by producing a range of aroma-impacting compounds (acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate, nonanal, and octanoic acid), being introduced into a cocoa fermentation process. Although the process started with approximately equal amounts of glucose and fructose, a concomitant, but faster utilization of fructose, was observed in cocoa fermentation conducted with L. plantarum LPBF 35 (with no residual fructose observed) when compared to control fermentation using a glucophilic strain (8.77 mg/g residual fructose) and a spontaneous process (8.38 mg/g residual fructose). L. plantarum LPBF 35 also showed an ideal profile of organic acid metabolism (citric acid consumption and lactic acid production) associated with cocoa fermentation. These results proved new insights on cocoa microbial activity and brings new perspectives on the use of lactic acid bacteria as starter culture.

果糖乳酸菌（FLAB）是最近发现的一组，其主要特征是比D-葡萄糖更偏爱D-果糖。在这项研究中，通过基于Illumina的扩增子测序对实验室可可豆发酵进行了分析，表明存在着Fructobacillus和Lactobacillus属的潜在FLAB 。通过16S rRNA基因测序，从发酵可可浆豆块中获得的80种有效果糖发酵菌株被鉴定为乳酸双球菌（n = 52），植物乳杆菌（n = 10），戊糖小球菌（n = 10），枯草芽孢杆菌（n。 n = 4），以及假性肠球菌（n = 4）。所有10个植物乳杆菌菌株的生长特性都将它们归类为“兼性”果糖细菌，即它们在没有外部电子受体的情况下在葡萄糖上生长，但是在果糖上的生长更快。其中，植物乳杆菌LPBF 35的特征在于，将一系列影响香气的化合物（乙醛，乙酸乙酯，壬醛和辛酸）引入可可发酵过程中。尽管该过程从大约等量的葡萄糖和果糖开始，但是在用植物乳杆菌进行的可可发酵中观察到了果糖的伴随但更快的利用。与使用嗜糖菌株（8.77 mg / g残留果糖）和自发过程（8.38 mg / g残留果糖）的对照发酵相比，LPBF 35（未观察到残留果糖）。植物乳杆菌LPBF 35还显示了与可可发酵相关的有机酸代谢（柠檬酸消耗和乳酸产生）的理想曲线。这些结果证明了对可可微生物活性的新见解，并为使用乳酸菌作为发酵剂提供了新的见解。