Authentication of cocoa butter

Cocoa butter is derived from the tree Theobroma cacao, which grows in several tropical areas, including Indonesia, the Ivory Coast, Malaysia, New Guinea and Brazil, which dominate the trade. The seeds of the tree, known as cocoa beans, were first consumed in the form of a drink prepared by the Maya and Aztec Indians. Cocoa beans were carried to Europe during the 16th century and the product was developed into the sweetened solid bar we are familiar with as chocolate. Cocoa butter is used mainly in the manufacture of chocolate confectionery, but it is also popular for applications in cosmetics and as an ingredient of pharmaceutical creams. 

The producing countries have had long trade relationships with the Western European nations that formerly colonized them and with the large market in the USA. The Netherlands and the USA are the largest importers of cocoa butter. 

The flavour of cocoa butter is determined by both the geographical origin of the beans and the deodorization conditions. Deodorization reduces the levels of free fatty acids but also some antioxidant compounds such as tocopherols. Deodorized butters are therefore often blended with expressed cocoa butter for better stability of the product. 

The Codex standard specifies the following categories of cocoa butter  

Press cocoa butter is the fat that is obtained by pressure from cocoa nib or cocoa mass (liquor) and treated only by filtering, centrifugation, degumming and deodorization by normal methods. 

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All of the classical analytical techniques applied to oils analysis have been applied to studying the authenticity of cocoa butter and considerable attention has been paid to the issue of detecting and quantifying non-cocoa fats in mixtures with cocoa butter and as incorporated into chocolate. A substantial review of these methods has been published (Lipp and Anklam, 1998b). 

Future authenticity testing of cocoa butter and chocolate products is likely to follow defined paths. To assure the authenticity of cocoa butters databases of the composition of the relevant fats will be required, constructed from a statistically significantly number of samples of proven provenance and processing history. Analyses must be carried out using internationally validated methods and characterized reference materials by a number of respected laboratories. Scientific co-operation within the European Union is beginning to develop such approaches in ensuring the authenticity of other foods such as olive oil. 

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