In this study, the roasting of cocoa beans with superheated steam method was evaluated. The phenol content and antioxidant properties decreased with increasing time and temperature. The lowest loss of total phenol and flavonoid content was found using superheated steam method rather than conventional method. This is because of low oxygen environment and even the degree of heating during superheated steam roasting process. Therefore, the authors conclude that superheated steam roasting method can improve the quality of cocoa beans as a raw material of cocoa-based industries. Superheated steam roasting could be more appropriate and flexible than conventional method because the higher total phenol and antioxidant properties are preserved using the same temperature and time. This method takes a short time to achieve the optimum roasting characteristics whereas the conventional method takes too long which may contribute to loss of antioxidant properties of the products.