Cacao beans

For many years oral xanthines, shown in Table 2, were the preferred first-line treatment for asthma in the United States, and if the aerosol and oral formulations of P2" go sts are considered separately, as they are in Table 1, this was still the case in 1989. Within this class of compounds theophylline (8), or one of its various salt forms, such as aminophylline [317-34-0] (theophylline ethylenediamine 2 l), have been the predominant agents. Theophylline, 1,3-dimethylxanthine [58-55-9], is but one member of a class of naturally occurring alkaloids. Two more common alkaloids are theobromine (9), isomeric with theophylline and the principal alkaloid in cacao beans, and caffeine, (10), 1,3,7-Trimethylxanthine [58-08-2], found in coffee and tea. 

Kakao, m. cacao cocoa, -baum, m. cacao, cacao tree, -bohne, /. cacao bean, cocoa bean, -butter, /. cacao butter, cocoa butter, -masse,/, cocoa i aste. -ol, n. cocoa (cacao) oil or butter, -pulver, n. cocoa powder. 

Kohiyama, M., Kanematsu, H., Niiya, I., Heavy metals particularly nickel, contained in cacao beans and chocolate, Nippon Shokuhin Kogyo Gakkaishi, 39(7), 596, 1992. (CA118 146452a)... 

Composition of Unfermented and Fermented Cacao Beans (Percent by Weight)... 

Although low levels of methylxanthines have been detected in the leaves and flowers of T. cacao, the primary storage location is within the seed or bean.16 The cocoa bean is the major natural source of the methylxanthine theobromine, but contains only small amounts of caffeine. Theophylline has been detected in cacao beans, but at such low concentrations that its presence generally is ignored. Together, theobromine and caffeine account for up to 99% of the alkaloid content of T. cacao beans. Alkaloid content is affected by genetic makeup, maturity of beans at harvest, and fermentation process. Analytical methodology also is partially responsible for some of the disparity in methylxanthine values since many early methods were unable to separate theobromine and caffeine. 

After fermentation, cacao beans are dried and then transported to the factory for roasting. The ultimate purpose of roasting is to develop desirable bean flavor and aroma, as well as the necessary texture for later grinding. As shown in Table 4, the methylxanthine content of cacao beans was not found to change significantly during the roasting process.5-24 26... 

Chocolate liquor is the solid or semiplastic food prepared by finely grinding the nib of the cacao bean. It is commonly called baking chocolate, unsweetened chocolate, or bitter chocolate and, in Europe, is frequently referred to as chocolate mass or cocoa paste. Chocolate liquor is essentially the starting point from which all chocolate products are produced. Table 5 lists the theobromine and caffeine content of 22 various chocolate liquor samples determined by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The liquors averaged 1.22% theobromine and 0.214% caffeine.27- 28 The ratio of theobromine to caffeine ranged from 2.5 1 to 23.0 1. 

Sotelo, A., Alverez, R. G., Chemical composition of wild Theobroma species and their comparison to the cacao bean. J. Agric. Food Chem., 39, 1940, 1991. 

An examination of treated cacao beans for toxic residues of Hanane showed that no Hanane was detectable chemically. Further analyses indicated that Hanane residue in no case exceeded 0.1 p.p.m., a limit tentatively set by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (32). However, until more complete evidence has been accumulated about the use of this type of insecticide, there will remain some doubt concerning its application to cacao. 

Cacao beans in storage are spoiled by insects that oviposit on them and in the burlap bags. These insects attack in the larval stage. 

Gotti, R., Furlanetto, S., Pinzauti, S., and Cavrini, V. (2006). Analysis of catechins in Theobroma cacao beans by cyclodextrin-modifled micellar electrokinetic chromatography.. Chromatogr. A 1112, 345-352. 

Rigaud 1, Escribano-Bailon MT, Prieur C et al (1993) Normal phase high performance liquid chromatographic separation of procyanidins from cacao beans and grape seeds. 1 Chromatogr 654 255-260... 

Henderson, John S., Rosemary A. Joyce, Gretchen R. Hall, W. Jeffrey Hurst, and Patrick E. McGovern. Chemical and Archaeological Evidence for the Earliest Cacao Beverages. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104 (November 27, 2007) 18,937-18,940. The researchers studied pottery residues and foimd that a chocolate beverage had been made from cacao beans in 1400-1100 b.c.e. in Honduras. 

Maillard reactions can be involved in the manufacture of foods in at least three quite different ways. First, there is the unconscious role played in the development of flavor in such traditional processes as the roasting of coffee and cacao beans, the baking of breads and cakes, and the cooking of meats. Second, there is the deliberate use of Maillard technology in the production of artificial (or engineered) foods and flavors. Third, there are the efforts to inhibit undesirable results of Maillard reactions in food processing today. 

Rohan had suggested that the operative reaction in the development of chocolate aroma might be a Strecker degradation of the amino acid fraction. Bailey et al. (8) demonstrated quantitatively that three aldehydes, which could be related to leucine, valine, and alanine, were prominent in the volatiles from a typical sample of roasted, ground cacao beans. 

There is no evidence that any of the manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate have adapted any part of the Maillard technology to their manufacturing processes. There are at least two reasons for this. First, the standard processes, as applied to beans of good quality, produce excellent products. Second, while the work just reviewed has given us a rather clear outline as to how chocolate aroma is developed in the roasting of fermented beans, the research work has not yet been done, or reported, that would serve as a basis for improving the industrial processing of cacao beans. 

Cocoa extenders or substitutes, as products which purport to be serious contenders for a fraction of the cocoa market, are a relatively new phenomenon. So long as cocoa was plentiful, cheap, and of superior quality a cocoa substitute made no sense. But the steady increasing of prices and tightening of supplies of cocoa in view of rising worldwide demand provided the incentive for some companies to undertake limited development of cocoa substitutes. It was no coincidence that their appearance on the market in early 1977 matched the peaking prices of both cacao beans and cocoa. 

Paralleling the studies of the volatile products of roasted cacao beans and of baked cereal products, and using the same techniques, a great deal of effort has gone into the determination of the compounds present in the volatile fractions of cooked meat. Most of these have been concerned only with beef, either roasted or boiled, but chicken has also received appreciable attention (21). Several lists of compounds isolated from the volatiles of cooked beef have been published (22-24), both cumulative and newly isolated ones. The totals for chicken (as of 1972) and for beef (as of 1977) are more than two hundred each. It... 

Cacao Nibs Cacao nibs are crushed bits of cacao beans—which are actually not beans at all, but seeds from the Theobroma plant. Most often, these beans are dried or roasted and then extracted to make cocoa butter for chocolate, or ground into powder to make cocoa powder. Cacao nibs are crushed cacao beans that have not been made into chocolate or cocoa powder. You can find them raw or roasted, and they resemble espresso beans in texture and crunch. They contain no added sugar, so they re bittersweet. They add great texture to cookies—I even use them as a topping for ice cream. They can be found at most specialty and health-food stores or online. Make sure you buy the finely ground variety. 

Li, S. and Hartland, S. Influences of co-solvents on solubility and selectivity in extraction of xanthine stimulants and cacao butter from cacao beans with supercritical C02, 2nd International Symposium on Supercritical Fluids, Boston 1991... 

Procyanidins. Catechin (Fluka) and epicatechin (ex. cacao beans) were recrystallized and dried before use. The oligomers epicatechin-(4/ — 8)-epicatechin and [epicatechin-(4/ — 8)]3-epicatechin were obtained from the ethyl acetate sol-... 

The tree is called cacao (pronounced cah-COW, and its seeds are cacao beans, or cocoa beans. The fat in them is cocoa butter. White chocolate is just cocoa butter mixed with Sugar. The roasted, ground-up beans, with most of the fat removed, are cocoa. Regular chocolate is made by adding extra fat to roasted, ground-up beans. 

Belonging to the same chemical group as atropine is the important alkaloid cocaine, C17H21O4N. It is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant, Erythroxylon coca, which grows in South America (Bolivia and Peru) and in Java and Ceylon. Distinction should be made between the coca plant and the cacao bean from which cocoa and chocolate are made. 

Derivation From the cacao bean, by expression, decoction, or extraction by solvent. 

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