https://journalbji.com/index.php/BJI <p><strong>Biotechnology Journal International (ISSN: <a href="https://nsl.niscpr.res.in/ISSNPROCESS/issnassignedinfo.jsp">2456-7051</a>)</strong> publishes original research papers, review articles and short communications on all areas of Biotechnology including cell biology, genetics, microbiology, immunology, molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology, immunogenetics, cell and tissue culture, molecular ecology, genetic engineering and biological engineering, bioremediation and biodegradation, bioinformatics, biotechnology regulations, pharmacogenomics, gene therapy, plant, animal, microbial and environmental biotechnology. By not excluding papers based on novelty, this journal facilitates the research and wishes to publish papers as long as they are technically correct and scientifically motivated. The journal also encourages the submission of useful reports of negative results. This is a quality controlled, OPEN peer-reviewed, open-access INTERNATIONAL journal.</p> <p><strong>NAAS Score: 4.81 (2026)</strong></p> en-US [email protected] (Biotechnology Journal International) [email protected] (Biotechnology Journal International) Thu, 22 Oct 2026 13:29:50 +0000 OJS 3.3.0.21 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 https://journalbji.com/index.php/BJI/article/view/918 <p><strong>Background:</strong> The overall quality of dry fermented cocoa beans is three-dimensional, including the market, aromatic, and health aspects. The molds that are present during post-harvest technological treatments up to the storage of fermented and dried cocoa beans play a harmful role by degrading the health quality of the cocoa beans. Cocoa from Ivory Coast is no exception to this problem; it is exposed to potential major risks of contamination with ochratoxin A, produced by mold.</p> <p><strong>Aims: </strong>The present study investigated the reduction of contamination of cocoa beans by mold using potentially antagonistic biological agents including antifungal yeasts such as <em>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</em> and <em>Candida incommunis</em>.</p> <p><strong>Study Design:</strong> Biocontrol of mycotoxigenic mold growth in cocoa using yeasts.</p> <p><strong>Place and Duration of Study:</strong> Food Biotechnology and Microbiology Laboratory, Food Science and Technology Research Department, Nangui ABROGOUA University, Côte d’Ivoire, between March and June 2024.</p> <p><strong>Methodology:</strong> After highlighting the antifungal properties of <em>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</em> and <em>Candida incommunis</em> by direct and indirect confrontation techniques on <em>Aspergillus carbonarius</em>, <em>A. ochraceus</em>, and <em>A. niger</em> isolated from cocoa fermentation, they were inoculated into the cocoa beans before fermentation. The physicochemical parameters were measured.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> The main results obtained showed antagonistic effects of <em>S. cerevisiae</em> and <em>C. incommunis</em> against all the pathogenic molds <em>A. carbonarius</em>, <em>A. niger,</em> and <em>A. ochraceus</em>. After inoculation for fermentation, among the tested biological agents, only <em>C. incommunis</em> induced an increase in temperature reaching 49 °C. The titratable acidity of the inoculated cocoa beans was between 0.06 and 0.12 Eq. of NaOH.g^-1 of cocoa during fermentation. No potentially antifungal biological agent tested had any effect on the marketability of cocoa. However, only <em>C. incommunis</em> showed a total biocontrol effect against molds during cocoa fermentation.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> The findings of this study could be applied to the bio-decontamination of fermented foods contaminated with pathogenic molds, and thus to reducing mycotoxin production using <em>C. incommunis</em>, which exhibits high fungal antagonistic potential.</p> Didier Kra Brou Kédjébo, Dominique Kouakou Kouadio, Brice Judicaël Assi-Clair, Maï Koumba Koné, Adobi Christian Kadjo, Simplice Tagro Guéhi Copyright (c) 2026 Author(s). The licensee is the journal publisher. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://journalbji.com/index.php/BJI/article/view/918 Thu, 22 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000