Besides the deteriorative potential and consequent influence on sensorial quality of cocoa and chocolate, the presence of fungi in food is also a public health issue due to the possibility of mycotoxin
formation. Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium are the main genera capable of producing toxic secondary metabolites, many of which have mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic effects on humans
and animals (IARC, 1993). In a previous study, Copetti et al. (2010) when evaluating whole cocoa beans found the presence of ochratoxin A at all stages of cocoa processing on the farm, with the major incidence during drying (