## 3 Results and Discussion
### Characterization of the Stages during Fermentation (SF and SC) of Cocoa Beans
[99], the presence of alcohols in SC (e.g., 2-heptanol, 2-pentanol, 2-nonanol, among others) was identified due to yeast metabolism in the anaerobic phase. The ester 2-pentanol acetate is a compound with fruity notes present in both fermentations at 48 h, which is similar to that reported by [PERSON] et al. [92]; in SC, its concentration remained relatively high until the end of fermentation compared to SF, which can be assumed that the yeast contributed to the formation of the compound (where its highest concentration was between 48 and 96 h). Regarding acids, one of the predominant compounds in SC was acetic acid (Table S4), which was similar to that reported by [PERSON] et al. [99] and [PERSON] et al. [100], which began to increase dramatically between 48 and 72 h of fermentation, a period in which it is associated with a conversion of ethanol to acetic acid, where the yeast _S. cerevisiae_ contributes to the oxidation of alcohol [22; 99; 100]. A higher content of linalool could be observed in SC compared to SF, as reported by [PERSON] et al. [22]; our study showed high concentrations after 48 h of fermentation similar to [PERSON] et al. [101]; finally, a shorter presence of isobutyl acetate (48 h) was detected in SC, presenting floral, fruity and banana notes [102], as detected in the same type of fermentation in the study of [PERSON] et al. [22]. Figure 6: _Cont._  
Figure 6: Conf. Figure 6: Relative concentrations (ug/g) of aromatic volatile compounds identified by GC-MS during spontaneous fermentation. All experiments were performed for each cocoa beans origins of three populated centers (Copallin, Guadalupe and Tolopampa). Statistical analyses were performed using RMarkdown software (RStudio, version 2022/0.2576). The data used in the figures are in the supplementary material (Table S3). Figure 7: Cont. Figure 7: Cluster dendogram of the hierarchical analysis in **(a)** spontaneous fermentation and **(b)** fermentation with starter culture (_S. cerevisiae_). The dissimilarity between the fermentation times was the complete linkage method with Euclidean distance. The two numbers above each node indicate two types of \(p\)-values calculated via two different bootstrapping algorithms: AU and BP. The number on the left indicates an “approximately unbiased” \(p\)-value (AU) and is computed by multiscale bootstrap resampling. The number on the right indicates a “bootstrap probability” \(p\)-value (BP) and is computed by normal bootstrap resampling. The number on the left is a much better assessment of how strongly the cluster is supported by the data. Statistical analyses were performed using RMardown software (RSStudio, version 2022.07.2+.576). Figure 8: Conf. Figure 8: Relative concentrations (ug/g) of aromatic volatile compounds identified by GC-MS during fermentation with starter culture (_S. cerevisiae_ All experiments were performed for each cocoa beans origins of three populated centers (Copallin, Guadalupe and Tolopampa). Statistical analyses were performed using RMarkdown software (RStudio, version 2022.07/2:570). The data used in the figures are in the supplementary material (Table S4). However, our study identified undesirable volatile compounds such as 3-methyl-1-butanol, 1-pentanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol, 3-methylbutanoic acid, and acetic acid, which is similar to those reported by [PERSON] et al. [94], who found these volatile compounds after 72 h of fermentation (with rancid, waxy or sulfurous notes). In addition, the presence of 2,4,5-trimethyl-1,3-dioxolane was detected in both fermentations (Tables S3 and S4), which is a compound produced by _S. cerevisiae_[102] and previously reported in the study by [PERSON] et al. [34] in cocoa from Amazonas as in the research, but in roasted conditions, which may lead to presume that this cocoa contains a significant presence of this yeast, which generates that the addition of the culture does not present many differences in the cocoa bean.