Chocolate and Cocoa Products

The principal ingredients of both categories are the cocoa mass and cocoa butter made from cocoa bean. 

Cleaning and sizing of the fermented cocoa bean with a water content of 6-8% are the first step. Any extraneous matter and broken beans are removed and selected sizing of whole beans is performed by specialized equipment. Sizing of the beans is important in order to later achieve uniform roasting. 

Cocoa beans are roasted between 140 and 180°C in roasters heated by steam or gas. The internal temperature of the beans must not be higher than 130°C. Roasting time is from 30 to 50 minutes. The water content of the bean is reduced to 1.5-2.5% during this process, its colour and flavour change, the pH-value is reduced and the husk is loosened. 

The husk is removed because it decreases the quality of the finished product. In order to ease separation of the husk from the bean, the roasted beans are ground to a particle 

Ground sugar -Cocoa Mass-Cocoa -Cocoa butter -Milk powder - 

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The cocoa bean is the basic raw ingredient in the manufacture of all cocoa products. The beans are converted to chocolate Hquor, the primary ingredient from which all chocolate and cocoa products are made. Eigure 1 depicts the conversion of cocoa beans to chocolate Hquor, and in turn to the chief chocolate and cocoa products manufactured in the United States, ie, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and sweet and milk chocolate. 

Blending. Most chocolate and cocoa products consist of blends of beans chosen for flavor and color characteristics. Cocoa beans may be blended before or after roasting, or nibs may be blended before grinding. In some cases finished Hquors are blended. Common, or basic beans, are usually African or BraziUan and constitute the bulk of most blends. More expensive flavor beans from Venezuela, Trinidad, Ecuador, etc are added to impart specific characteristics. The blend is deterrnined by the end use or type of product desired. 

Chocolate and cocoa products supply proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. The Chocolate Manufacturers Association of the United States ... 

McLean, Virginia) completed a nutritional analysis from 1973 to 1976 of a wide variety of chocolate and cocoa products representative of those generally ... 

Meyers, E., Graham, A., Finnegan, E., Kreiser, W., Chocolate and cocoa products, in Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemical Analysis, vol 9, John Wiley Sons, New York, 1970, 534. 

For a food whose flow behavior follows the Casson model, a straight line results when the square root of shear rate, (y), is plotted against the square root of shear stress, (cr) , with slope Kc and intercept Kqc (Figure 2-2). The Casson yield stress is calculated as the square of the intercept, ctoc = (Kocf and the Casson plastic viscosity as the square of the slope, r]ca = The data in Figure 2-2 are of Steiner (1958) on a chocolate sample. The International Office of Cocoa and Chocolate has adopted the Casson model as the official method for interpretation of flow data on chocolates. However, it was suggested that the vane yield stress would be a more reliable measure of the yield stress of chocolate and cocoa products (Servais et al., 2004). 

LR techniques are routinely used for determination of the fat content and solid-to-liquid ratio in chocolate and cocoa products. Analysis of the fluidification of cocoa butter using LR NMR enabled the identification of cocoas according to the process and the type of roaster used. 

A more complex flavor development occurs in the production of chocolate. The chocolate beans are first fermented to develop fewer complex flavor precursors upon roasting, these give the chocolate aroma. The beans from unfermented cocoa do not develop the chocolate notes (84—88) (see Chocolate and cocoa). The flavor development process with vanilla beans also allows for the formation of flavor precursors. The green vanilla beans, which have Htfle aroma or flavor, are scalded, removed, and allowed to perspire, which lowers the moisture content and retards the enzymatic activity. This process results in the formation of the vanilla aroma and flavor, and the dark-colored beans that after drying are the product of commerce. 

Consumption of sweet chocolate in the U.S. is low. The majority of chocolate consumed is milk chocolate produced from chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, and milk solids. Because most milk chocolate produced in the U.S. contains 10 to 12% chocolate liquor, differences in methylxanthine content among commercial milk chocolate are due more to the varieties and blends of cocoa bean (Table 9). Based on analytical data from seven brands of commercial milk chocolate, a typical 40-g milk chocolate bar contains approximately 65 mg theobromine and less than 10 mg caffeine.28 Milk chocolate bars containing other ingredients, such as peanuts, almonds, and confectionery fillings, obviously contain less methylxanthines. In a survey of 49 marketed chocolate and confectionery products, theobromine concentrations ranged from 0.001 to 2.598% and caffeine content from 0.001 to 0.247%.33... 

The mycotoxin ochratoxin A (AAA) (7), which is a possible human carcinogen, continues to receive extensive attention due to its presence in a myriad of foods and beverages (1520, 1521) and its well-established toxicity (teratogenicity, mutagenicity, immunotoxicity, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity) (1522-1524). Major sources of ochratoxin A are grapes, must, and wine (1525-1533), cereals (1534), beer (1535,1536), dried fruit (1537), roasted coffee (1538), and cocoa products and chocolate (1539). 

In the food production industry, where it is used in the removal of peels from fruits and vegetables, the carme-lization of products that contain sugar, the thickening of ice cream, the softening of olives, the production of chocolate and cocoa, and the preparation of hominy from corn kernels ... 

Besides coffee and cola drinks, other sources of caffeine are tea, chocolate, and cocoa. Caffeine is a mild stimulant of the respiratory and central nervous systems, the reason for its well-known side effects of nervousness and insomnia. These characteristics, together with its behavior as a mild diuretic, account for the use of caffeine in a wide variety of products, including pain relievers, cold remedies, diet pills, and stay-awake pills (No-Doz ). Because caffeine is considered to be a drug, pregnant women should be prudent about how much caffeine they consume. Like most other drugs, caffeine enters the bloodstream, crosses the placental barrier, and reaches the fetus. 

The use of low-resolution TD-NMR for oil, fat, and moisture is often easier and more accurate than the use of near IR (NIR) (Chapter 4) because it is less dependent on the product matrix, so it is possible to calibrate an oil determination against 100% oil. In addition, NMR acquires the signal from the whole sample, not the surface. In some cases, if water is <10%, oil and moisture may be able to be determined simultaneously. Other applications of TD-NMR can be found on the websites of Oxford Instruments and Bruker and include oils in snack foods, chocolate and cocoa, milk powder, and so on. 

In recent years, the studies of cocoa and cocoa products (cocoa powder, dark chocolate, and cocoa liquor) and their related products have become an area of interest given their health-promoting properties due to the presence of bioactive compounds such as the flavanols (catechins and proanthocyanins), the flavonoids subgroup, and alkaloids (methylxanthines). Several in vitro and in vivo studies have suggested that polyphenols may protect against many degenerative diseases. A relation has been found in some of these between the consumption of cocoa derivatives and their cardiovascular effect [1,2],... 

Chocolate and cocoa-containing food products 12 procyanidins, 25 anthocyanins, 5 flavanonols SEE (vortexing, ultrasonification, acetone/water/acetic acid, 70 29.5 0.5, v/v/v) Phenomenex Euna Cig column (250 x 4.6 nun, 5 pm) Gradient ACN/EtOAc (7 1, v/v) and 0.05 % acetic acid (aq.) FD [131]... 

Over the last two decades, the scientific community has become aware of the potential health-related benefits of antioxidants and the properties of polyphenols-rich dark chocolate and cocoa. More than 200 studies were reported on bioactive compounds, chemical compositions, and health benefits of cocoa and cocoa products. Many of the proposed health-protective activities associated with the crmsumption of cocoa and chocolate have been attributed to flavan-3-ols, including monomers. Reported pharmacological activities of procyanidins include antioxidative and anticancer effects, protection against cardiovascular disease, risk reduction of blood clotting, protection against urinary tract infectirms, decrease of LDL-c, decrease of blood pressure, and improvement of endothelium vasodilatation. Moreover, there is some scientific evidence about an increase in blood flow and perfusion of the brain by... 

O. Segman, Z. Wiesman and L. Yarmolinsky, Methods and Technologies Related to Shea Butter Chemophysical Properties and to the Delivery of Bioactives in Chocolate and Related Products, in Cocoa Butter and Related Compounds, ed. N. Garti and N. R. Widlak, AOCS Monograph Series on Oilseeds, AOCS Press, 2012, vol. 6, p. 417. 

Flavorings. Various spices are employed to provide distinctive flavors in many bakery foods. Similarly, flavors and colors, both natural and artificial, are used to enhance bakery products in terms of both eating properties and appearance (6,15). Cocoa, chocolate, and many varieties of fmit, as well as some vegetables, (fresh, frozen, canned, and dried) are used in the food product or in fillings or icings. 

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) jointiy sponsor the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which conducts a program for developing worldwide food standards. The Codex Committee for Cocoa Products and Chocolate has developed standards for chocolate (Codex Standard 87-1981), and cocoa powders and dry cocoa—sugar mixtures (Codex Standard 105-1981). As a member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the United States is obligated to consider all Codex standards for acceptance. 

Marketing. Most of the cocoa beans and products imported into the United States are done so by New York and London trade houses. The New York Sugar, Coffee, and Cocoa Exchange provides a mechanism by which both chocolate manufacturers and trade houses can hedge their cocoa bean transactions. Additional information on the functions of the New York Cocoa Exchange is available (3). 

Cocoa Powder Manufacture. When chocolate Hquor is exposed to pressures of 34—41 MPa (5000—6000 psig) in a hydrauHc press, and part of the fat (cocoa butter) is removed, cocoa cake (compressed powder) is produced. The original pot presses used in cocoa production had a series of pots mounted vertically one above the other. These have been supplanted by horizontal presses that have four to twenty-four pots mounted in a horizontal frame. The newer presses are capable of complete automation, and by careflil selection of pressure, temperature, and time of pressing, cocoa cake of a specified fat content can be produced. 

The Codex Committee on Cocoa and Chocolate Products defines cocoa butter as the fat produced from one or more of the following cocoa beans, cocoa nibs, cocoa mass (chocolate Hquor), cocoa cake, expeUer cake, or cocoa dust (fines) by a mechanical process and/or with the aid of permissible solvents (10). It further states that cocoa butter shall not contain sheU fat or germ fat ia excess of the proportion ia which they occur ia the whole bean. 

Substitutes and Equivalents. In the past 25 years, many fats have been developed to replace part or all of the added cocoa butter ia chocolate-flavored products. These fats fall into two basic categories commonly known as cocoa butter substitutes and cocoa butter equivalents. Neither can be used ia the United States ia standardized chocolate products, but they are used ia small amounts, usually up to 5% of the total weight of the product, ia some European countries. 

Table 13. Tocopherols of Chocolate of Cocoa Beans and Chocolate Products, mg/100 g ...

Keport of Codex Committee on Cocoa Products and Chocolate, Codex Mlimentarious Commission, 10th Session, Geneva, Switzerland, 1974. 

Codex Standards for Cocoa Products and Chocolate, Cocoa Butter Standard 86-1981, CodexMlimentarius, VoL VII, 1st ed.. Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Program, 1981. 

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