For the samples of industrially processed cocoa, the technique of dilution plating was applied. Under aseptic conditions, 25 g of each sample were weighed and 225 mL of sterile peptone water 0.1%
were added. Then, aliquots of the serial dilutions were prepared and inoculated on plates containing DG18. The plates were incu- bated at 25°C for 7 days and the results expressed in colony forming units per gram of sample (CFU/g), according to Pitt and Hocking’s (2009) methodology.