PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prepare material only a tiny amount of which is added to cacao flavor food and beverage such as a cocoa beverage or chocolate to substantially enhance roasted cacao bean feeling and taste feeling including so-called full-bodied taste such as rich taste, thickness of taste and body feeling, so as to enable improvement in balance, by using cacao bean-derived raw material.SOLUTION: A taste improver for cacao-flavored food and beverage includes heat-treated material obtained by subjecting cacao bean extract liquid to heat treatment at 100-180°C for 10 minutes to 5 hours. Addition of a tiny amount of the taste improver to a cocoa beverage or chocolate results in substantially enhancing roasted cacao bean feeling and taste feeling including so-called full-bodied taste such as rich feeling, thickness of taste and body feeling to enable improvement in balance.COPYRIGHT: (C)2014,JPO&INPIT【課題】カカオ風味飲食、例えば、容器詰めのココア飲料やチョコレートに対し、微量添加するだけで、焙煎カカオ豆感ならびに濃厚感、味の厚み、ボディ感などのいわゆるコク味などの呈味感を大幅に増強し、バランスの改善をはかることのできる素材を、カカオ豆由来原料により調製すること。【解決手段】カカオ豆抽出液を100℃~180℃にて10分~5時間加熱処理して得られる加熱処理物からなる、カカオ含有飲食品用呈味改善剤をココア飲料やチョコレートに微量添加することにより、焙煎カカオ豆感ならびに濃厚感、味の厚み、ボディ感などのいわゆるコク味などの呈味感を大幅に増強し、バランスの改善をはかることができる。【選択図】なし
