Cocoa butter is a highly valued ingredient primarily used in the confectionery industry. It is responsible for the melting properties of chocolate, consisting predominantly of fatty acids such as palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid, but low amounts of lauric acid and myristic acid.
Palmitic acid, stearic and oleic acid account on average for respectively 26%, 36% and 34% of the total fatty acid composition.
Fatty acid profiles are categorized into saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Palmitic, stearic, lauric and myristic acid are considered saturated fatty acids, oleic acid is a monounsaturated fatty acid while linoleic acid is a polyunsaturated fatty acid.
It is a pale-yellow liquid with a characteristic odor and the flavor of chocolate. It is an important and the only continuous fat phase found in chocolate, which help in the dispersion of the other ingredients also.
Typically, 100 g of beans produce 40 g of cocoa butter, 40 g of cocoa powder (the residue after extraction which contains 10 – 24% fat) and 20 g of waste material.
Cocoa butter contains a high proportion of saturated fat, derived from starch and palmitic acid and contains trace amounts of caffeine and theobromine. It also contains fat soluble antioxidants such as vitamin E in the form of β-tocopherol, α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol helps in its storage by increasing its therapeutic properties.
Cocoa butter: Fatty acid content and other nutrients
