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The cocoa (Theobroma cacao) fermentation was carried out using starter consortia of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Acetobacter aceti with 10% inoculum. The fermented beans were soaked with sterile water (1:3 wt/v) for the duration of 1, 3, and 5 h. The treated beans were dried to the moisture content of 7 ± 1%. The samples were then roasted, ground and subjected to steam distillation. The volatiles were extracted and identified using GC-MS. The samples soaked for 1 h scored 100% cut score along with 0.85% fermentation index. The volatile and non-volatiles were associated with beans treated in water after fermentation. Volatile compounds were classified as esters, alcohols, acids, aldehydes, ketones, pyrazines, hydroperoxides, and hydrocarbons. Most of the oxygenated aliphatic compounds and aromatics were potentially derived via an acetic acid and shikimic acid pathways, respectively. Untreated cocoa beans contained 12 sesquiterpene hydrocarbons potentially derived through the mevalonic acid pathway and contributed to harsh notes. Also, these metabolites were completely absent in the treated samples indicating depletion while soaking. Thus, the treated samples (1 h) had enhanced quality with high flavor notes with 8.5 rating on sensory evaluation. Thus, these soaking treatments with fermentation lead to improvement of flavor profiles which confers improved cocoa quality.

Ginger rhizome (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is widely cultivated as a spice for its aromatic and pungent components. The essential oil and oleoresins from ginger are valuable products responsible for the characteristic flavor and pungency. Both are used in several food products such as soft beverages and also in many types of pharmaceutical formulations. More than 100 compounds have been reported from ginger, some of which are isolated and characterized, others are tentatively identified by GC-MS and / or LC-MS. [6]-Gingerol, the major gingerol in ginger rhizomes, has been found to possess many interesting pharmacological and physiological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and cardiotonic effects. Ginger is considered as "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) by Food and Drug Administration (FDA), USA. Due to all these properties, ginger has gained considerable attention in developed countries in recent years, especially for its use in the treatment of inflammatory conditions. The present review is a persuasive presentation of the current information on processing, chemistry, biological activities, and medicinal uses of ginger. Further studies are required for the validation of the beneficial uses. Formulation for novel products and new usages may emerge in the years to come, based on the revealed results of various studies.

Tea is the most widely used ancient beverage in the world and black tea possesses many biological effects on the organisms. It acts as an effective antioxidant because of its free radical-scavenging and metal-chelating ability. Due to this, it is active against inflammation, clastogenesis, and several types of cancer. Tea reduces DNA damage and mutagenesis due to oxidative stress or the presence of pro-mutagens through antioxidant function, blocking activation pathways of mutagens, suppressing transcription of enzymes involved etc. Inhibition of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) peroxidation, suppression of fatty acid synthase etc., suggest that tea may have a role in preventing cardiovascular diseases. Some epidemiological studies support the protective role of black tea against cardiovascular diseases but some do not. Besides, black tea has beneficial effects on the gastrointestinal tract; it affects motility, absorption, microflora etc., by influencing the hormonal balance and antioxidant function black tea improves bone mineral density. It is also antiviral due to its enzyme-inhibiting and receptor-blocking properties. Although its role in cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, and prostate is confirmed, its effect against urinary tract cancer is uncertain and further studies are required. Apart from these, excess consumption may lead to the formation of a stained pellicle layer on teeth, which is difficult to eliminate, inhibits trypsin, influences mineral absorption, causes convulsions etc. Excess caffeine intake may have adverse effects on selected organs as reported in studies on some organisms. These reports indicate that there is a wide scope of further research for the efficient use of black tea active conserves/isolates to reap health benefits.

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world. It is consumed for its refreshing and stimulating properties. Carbohydrates are the major constituents of coffee beans and serve various functions like binding of aroma, stabilization of foam, formation of sedimentation, and increased viscosity of the extract. The principal low molecular weight carbohydrate is sucrose and no evidence of other simple oligosaccharides has been found. Polysaccharide fraction from green coffee is dominated by arabinogalactan, galactomannan, and cellulose. The polysaccharide content is reduced during roasting due to degradation to low molecular weight carbohydrates (viz., mono and oligosaccharide) and become more extractable. Various methods that can be employed to extract the carbohydrate from roasted coffee are sequential extraction, acid hydroloysis, hot water extraction, enzymatic extraction etc. Carbohydrates from coffee can be quantitatively determined by liquid chromatography, high performance anion exchange chromatography, size exclusion chromatography, and high performance liquid chromatography. Besides improving the organoleptic quality of the coffee beverage, carbohydrates also possess various biological activities such as lowering colon cancer risk. Besides their sheer mass, a variety of evidences testify to the important contribution that the polysaccharide content makes to the character of the final brew. Although a number of chemical and enzymatic methods have been devised to isolate and quantify the carbohydrates of R&G coffee, till date hot water extraction is the only method which can be accepted as a most feasible process and hence, there is wide scope of further research for the efficient and economically viable technology for extraction of carbohydrates from coffee.