Food Fingerprinting: Characterization of the Ecuadorean Type CCN-51 of Theobroma cacao L. Using Microsatellite Markers

The cocoa type Coleccion Castro Naranjal 51 (CCN-51) is known for its resistance to specific climate conditions and its high yield, but it shows a weaker flavor profile and therefore is marketed as bulk cocoa. In a previous study, the two cocoa types Arriba and CCN-51 could easily be distinguished, but differences among the CCN-51 samples were observed. This was unexpected, as CCN-51 is reported to be a clone. To confirm whether CCN-51 is a pure clone, 10 Simple sequence repeats (SSR) located on the nuclear,genome were used to analyze various CCN-51 samples in comparison to the cocoa varieties Arriba and Criollo. As expected, there are differences in the SSR pattern among CCN-51, Arriba, and Criollo, but a variability within the CCN-51 sample set was detected as well. The previously described sequence variation in the chloroplast genome was confirmed by a variability in the microsatellite loci of the nuclear genome fora comprehensive cultivar collection of CCN-51 of both bean and leaf samples. In summary, beneath somaclonal variation, misidentification of plant collections and also sexual reproduction of CCN-51 can be suggested: