Enzymatic treatment of cocoa

A process for overcoming variability in the flavor precursor composition of mixtures of fermented cocoa beans, which comprises:

• preparing a nib or a liquor from a mixture of (1) cocoa beans of different origins;
• or (2) cocoa beans subjected to different stages of fermentation of 1 to 15 days;
• mixing the nib or liquor with an aqueous medium at a pH of 3-6;
• incubating the aqueous mixture at a temperature of 40.degree.-60.degree. C. for a time of 10 minutes to 20 hours;
• adjusting the pH of the incubated mixture to 4-8;
• adding at least one technical protease to the incubated mixture;
• incubating the protease containing mixture for a time and at a temperature sufficient to hydrolyse the proteins and the peptides present therein;
• and
• roasting the incubated protease containing mixture to obtain a composition having a flavor characteristic of well-fermented and roasted cocoa beans.