Liquor chocolate roasting

Chocolate has antioxidant properties for low-density lipoproteins and hence could prevent heart disease. Foods and beverages derived from cocoa beans have been consumed by humans since 460 a.d. Cocoa pods from the cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao) are harvested and the beans removed and fermented. Dried and roasted beans contain about 300 chemicals including caffeine, theobromine, and phenethylamine. Chocolate liquor is prepared by finely grinding the nib of the cocoa bean and is the basis for all chocolate products. Cocoa powder is made by removing part of the cocoabutter from the liquor. Bittersweet chocolate, sometimes called dark chocolate, contains between 15 and 60% chocolate liquor, the remainder being cocoa butter, sugar, and other additives. Milk chocolate is the predominant form of chocolate consumed in the U.S. and typically contains 10 to 12% chocolate liquor. 

Chocolate is a solid-in-oil (S/O) suspension of non-fat partides (of about 10-100 (im diameter) of sugar and cocoa (cacao) in a continuous phase of cocoa butter, which is the natural fat from the cocoa bean [215]. When cocoa beans are cleaned, roasted, cracked and ground, chocolate liquor results, a suspension of cocoa powder in cocoa butter. Depending on how much cocoa butter is removed (by pressing) one can make, in decreasing order of cocoa butter content bitter, unsweetened, baking... 

Acrolein has been identified in foods and food components such as raw cocoa beans, chocolate liquor, souring salted pork, fried potatoes and onions, raw and cooked turkey, and volatiles from cooked mackerel, white bread, raw chicken breast, ripe arctic bramble berries, heated animal fats and vegetable oils, and roasted coffee (Cantoni et al. 1969 EPA 1980, 1985 IARC 1985 Umano and Shibamoto 1987). Sufficient data are not available to establish the level of acrolein typically encountered in these foods. Trace levels of acrolein have been found in wine, whiskey, and lager beer (IARC 1985). Further information regarding the occurrence of acrolein in food and related products is provided by EPA (1980). 

Cocoa beans are converted into chocolate liquor by a combination of roasting, winnowing, and grinding. Until 1828 the only known product was drinking... 

For chocolate production, the raw cocoa is stored, shipped, and processed. The processing steps are roasting and liquor production. The heat treatment induces Maillard reactions, caramelization of sugars, protein degradation, and formatiiMi of volatile aroma components [85, 89]. An often applied step to cocoa is the dutching, the alkali treatment of cocoa powder in order to modify the color, and other physiochemical properties. The pH values of cocoa powders are adjusted from ph 5.3-5.8 in natural powders to higher than 7.6 in heavily dutched materials. The total flavanol contents are reduced from more than 34 to 3.9 g kg In the same way, the antioxidative properties of the powders are diminished [90]. 

Chocolate is the product made by grinding freshly roasted and winnowed cocoa nibs. It contains 50 to 55% cocoa butter and when freshly made is liquid. This basic chocolate is usually cooled in molds to facilitate later handling. Commercial chocolate is prepared by blending the prime liquor with sugar, milk solids and flavorings, particularly vanilla. 

Cocoa beans are used extensively in the manufacture of chocolate, but this chapter is confined to the use of cocoa as a beverage. To produce the cocoa powder used in the beverage, the beans are roasted at 150°C and the shell (hull) and meat of the bean (nib) are mechanically separated. The nibs, which contain about 55% cocoa butter, are then finely ground while hot to produce a liquid mass or liquor . This sets on cooling and is... 

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