Ruby: Jacobs University scientists are collaborating in the development of a new type of chocolate

19-Sep-2017 - Germany

It has a reddish color and an intense berry taste. “At first, it’s hard to believe that it’s a pure cocoa product”, says Matthias Ullrich, Professor in microbiology at Jacobs University. But that is exactly what it is. The microbiologist and his team, in cooperation with Barry Callebaut AG, the globally leading manufacturer of high quality chocolate and cocoa products with registered offices in Switzerland, have been participating in the creation of a new type of chocolate: Ruby.

Milk, dark and white chocolate – up to now there have only been three basic types of chocolate. Ruby, launched in Shanghai at the beginning of September, is now the fourth type. It is made from Ruby cocoa beans. No colorants, berry flavors or berries are added to the new product. Right now, Ruby cannot be bought in retail stores, since Barry Callebaut is a B2B enterprise, collaborating with renowned chocolate brands. Those brands now have the chance to integrate the reddish chocolate into their product portfolio. Depending on their plans, Ruby might be available for European consumers in about 18 months, Barry Callebaut estimates.

Commissioned by Barry Callebaut, Jacobs University scientists are researching the quality and specific characteristics of a number of different cocoa beans, including Ruby. “Our goal is to find out what the constituents are”, says Ullrich. Once we know what they are, the interesting beans can be separated from those that are less interesting.

Barry Callebaut has been making use of Jacobs University’s expertise since 2012. The six-year project “Cometa” was started in 2014. The name stands for “Cocoa Metabolomics” - the analysis of all the metabolites of cocoa beans. Using the latest chemical methods, researchers can identify their main constituents, the polyphenols, lipids and peptides, that determine taste and flavor. Ten people are involved in the project, among them PhD students, post-docs and technicians.

The cocoa bean is also of particular interest for scientists because it consists of an extraordinarily large variety of chemical substances. One cocoa bean consists of around 20,000 different molecules. “This diversity alone is a scientific challenge”, says Prof. Ullrich. “In addition, the various analytical systems need to be linked in order to capture the particular properties of a bean.”