Cocoa butter: Fatty acid content and other nutrients

Cocoa butter is the byproduct of cocoa bean processing industry and is obtained from the mature bean from the Theobroma cacao plant. Cocoa butter is obtained by pressing of mature cocoa beans.

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

Cocoa powder extender

During 1977, the world produce of cacao beans rose to record heights reaching approximately three times the price prevailing three years earlier.

Ingredient cost consideration and limited availability of cocoa beans has generated interest in cocoa powder extenders and replacers. Cocoa powder extender is similar to cocoa powder in appearance and taste. The extenders are often used in chocolate, biscuit, confectionary etc.

Blends of spray-dried malted barley and roasted barley or other roasted grains are used in some cases at a rate of 35-50% as a replacement for cocoa powders.

The roasted seeds of the locust bean pod, which when pulverized, can be used as an extender to chocolate or cocoa.
Cocoa powder extender

Cocoa butter equivalent

The original vegetable fat made by Unilever and the many others that are now on the market are known as cocoa butter equivalents, as they are like cocoa butter and can be added in any proportion without causing a significant softening or hardening effect.

To ensure complete compatibility (i.e solid phase miscibility) with cocoa butter, a fat must have not only a similar melting profile but also a similar molecular size and polymorphism.

The best way to achieve this is to mimic the molecular composition. Thus, cocoa butter equivalents are designed to have triacylglycerol compositions as close to cocoa butter as possible.

They are made from fats, hard fraction (stearins) of fats, or blends of such fats that have high levels of Sat-O-Sat triacylglycerols. There are many sources of such triacylglycerols but the most common by far is palm oil.

Cocoa butter equivalent can be used in dark and milk chocolate in various proportions, with little influence in the physical properties of the fat blended when based on a normal cocoa butter; it can be used by chocolate producers with no change in process conditions.

Production of a cocoa butter equivalent would involve the purification and fractionation of a series of different naturally occurring fats to obtain the proper proportion of the desired triglycerides having the desired structure, at the appropriate levels.

These equivalents are commercially viable only when the price of cocoa bitter is high enough to justify their high costs.
Cocoa butter equivalent

Properties of cocoa butter

Cocoa butter is the term for the triglyceride mixture obtained from cocoa beans. Cocoa butter is obtained by pressing the ground cocoa bean kernels.

Cocoa butter depending on it source may vary in composition and hardness characteristics. During processing, the crystallization events dramatically affect the rheological properties of the product which in turn, influence the viscosity, demolding, snap, surface gloss and desired melting characteristics of the final molded bar.

Although the properties of coca butter include a pleasant aroma and flavor, its melting behavior and texture at different temperatures distinguish this fat and provide its added value. The melting of cocoa butter takes place over a narrow temperature range, from around 27 to 33 °C. This melting behavior makes cocoa butter ideal for confectionery applications.

And added benefit that cocoa butter provides is oxidative stability, which contributes to extended shelf life for foods.

Cocoa butter generally acts as the continuous phase in chocolate, supporting the nonfat ingredients. Thus, the properties of the chocolate - relatively hard and brittle at room temperature yet melting rapidly in the mouth - are greatly dependent on the properties of the cocoa butter itself.
Properties of cocoa butter

What is couverture chocolate?

Chocolate and white chocolate to be used in candy making are designated ‘couverture’ chocolate. Couverture chocolate contains a relatively high proportion of cocoa solids and cocoa butter as compare with other ingredients.

The cocoa butter melts and dissipates at a low temperature, giving it a beautiful mouthfeel as well as giving shine, gloss and snap to chocolate.

The extra cocoa butter makes the melted couverture chocolate very fluid and easy to work with. Most professional chefs use couverture. It is the perfect chocolate to use for dipping truffles and candies and for molding because it makes a thin coating and it’s also great to use for baking.

Couverture chocolate must be tempered to stabilize the emulsification of cocoa solids and butterfat before it is used for dipping or molding.

Tempering gives chocolate a glossy sheen and allows it to set up quickly. Tempering process enables chocolate to be stores at room temperature for longer without loss of texture or flavor.
What is couverture chocolate?

Solvent extraction cocoa butter

Cocoa butter is composed mainly of glycerides of stearic, palmitic and oleic fatty acids. It is a unique fat with specific melting characteristics.

The solvent extraction of cocoa butter has been developed and perfected over many years.  There are many types of solvent-extraction equipment, batch and continuous, with modifications to suit the materials being treated, whether seeds, nut residues, offal or bones.

With cocoa, material for extraction is preferably in the form of corns from expeller presses or cubes, as powder does not really allow percolation of the solvent.

Solvent extraction removes certain gums and phosphatides as well as the fat, but extracted fats are usually subjected to deodorization and degumming processes so that these cocoa butters have a bland flavor. They also have the reputation of being softer and with less ‘snap’ than expressed butters.

Despite the favorable characteristics of flavor, solvent extracted butter normally only forms 2-5% of the butter blend for chocolate as it is softer than that produced by conventional pressed liquor.

The flavor 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 antioxidant compounds such as tocopherols.
Solvent extraction cocoa butter 

Expeller pressed cocoa butter

Expeller cocoa butter is the fat prepared by the expeller process from cocoa beans singly or in combination with cocoa nib, cocoa mass, cocoa presscake and low fat cocoa presscake. In the expeller, extrusion, or screw press, slightly different conditions prevail during extraction.

Expeller cocoa butter usually has a stronger flavor and darker color than prime cocoa butter and is filtered with carbon or otherwise treated prior to use. The nib is normally steamed to assist the separation – chemically, the cocoa butter is the same as prime pressed. Expellers are also used to extract the fat from whole beans.

Often, expeller pressing is often applied to poorer grade nibs and may be assisted by steam treatment. It also used in some winnowing products, in which case the resultant cocoa butter is usually subjected to a refining process.

Expeller presses operate by using a rotating screw to force the material being extracted into tapering tube. The tube has slits along its length and terminates in a cone-shaped device which can be adjusted to vary the size of the outlet.

As material passes along the tube it is subject boith to continuously increasing pressure and to the shearing action of the screw. Cocoa butter is expressed through the slots in the sides of the tubes, while flakes of press cake emerge from the outlet at the end of the tube.
Expeller pressed cocoa butter

Cocoa butter as food ingredient

Cocoa butter is used to make chocolate, as was well as some ointments, toiletries and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter also is an important ingredient for confectionery products, having a major influence on the organoleptic and physical properties.

More than 98% of cocoa butter is simple lipid. More than 95% of this is triacylglycerol. Free fatty acid values are reported to be 1.5% and the concentration of mono- and diacylglycerol is about 2% of the simple lipid fraction.

Cocoa butter contains a high proportion of saturated fats, derived from stearic and palmitic acids. It exhibits a very complex crystallization system as a result of the different glycerides present. It is polymorphic, which means it will crystallize in several different forms according to how the liquid fat is solidified.

It generally acts as the continuous phase in chocolate, supporting the nonfat ingredients.

Thus, the properties of the chocolate – relatively hard and brittle at room temperature yet melting rapidly in the mouth – are greatly dependent on the properties of the cocoa butter itself. It is light yellow fat, exhibiting a distinct brittle fracture below 20 °C, a fairly sharp complete melting point about 35 °C with an incipient fusion or softening around 30-32 °C.
Cocoa butter as food ingredient

The invention of cocoa press

During eighteenth century, chocolate was still consumed in liquid form and was mainly sold as pressed blocks of a grainy mass to be dissolved in water or milk to form chocolate drink.

And the biggest problem with the drink was its unpleasant oily taste from the vegetable fat in cocoa beans.

The mass production of these chocolate blocks also began in the eighteenth century when the British Fry family founded the first chocolate factory in 1728 using hydraulic equipment to grind the cocoa beans.

In United States chocolate was first manufactured in1765 by John Hanan and physician James Baker. They opened the first chocolate factory at Milton Lower Mills, Massachusetts.

The production of cocoa and chocolate was truly revolutionized in 1828 by the invention a cocoa press developed by Coenraad Van Houten which succeeded in separating cocoa solid from cocoa butter. This process made chocolate both more consistent and less expensive to produce.

This was a much more effective way to remove the oily butter than boiling and skimming it from the nibs.

In this process, the alkalized nibs are dried, roasted and pressed hydraulically to yield cocoa butter and press cake that still contains up to 20% butter fat for drinking chocolate and some of 10% for industrial applications.

The resulting defatted cocoa powder was much easier to dissolve in water and other liquids and paved the way in 1847, for the invention of the first real ‘eating chocolate’, produced from the addition of coca butter and sugar to cocoa liquid.

In 1847, Fry & Sons Company of Bristol, England, introduced the first chocolate bar meant for eating as a snack.

In the process, the company first pressed some chocolate liquor to extract the cocoa butter. Then they blended this butter back into unpressed chocolate liquor to make a creamy, solid chocolate candy.

The invention of cocoa press brought down the price of chocolate and improved the taste of drinking chocolate by squeezing out cocoa butter.
The invention of cocoa press

Prime pressed cocoa butter

Prime pressed cocoa bitter is designed as the fat obtained from good quality cocoa nib commercially free form shell by means of mechanical (hydraulic) pressing. No subsequent refining other than filtration is employed.

Cocoa butter, which forms about 45%b of the bean is extracted by removing the beans from their pods and allowing them to ferment before they are dried, roasted, shelled and ground to the paste known as ‘cocoa liquor’ or ‘cocoa mass’.

The cocoa liquor is then by hydraulic, screw expelling or solvent extraction to produce cocoa butter. There is usually some oil remaining on the cocoa powder - it is impossible to take out all the fat simply by pressing.

Pressing liquor made from highest quality nibs gives the best quality cocoa butter which is designated ‘pure prime pressed’, but butter produced by expeller pressing of good quality nibs is almost equivalent. Solvent extraction is used only from extraction of cake residues from the expeller process or of other, waste, residues.

Prime pressed cocoa butter is usually used directly in chocolate without any further processing. This makes it unusual among fats in the most fats are refined before use to remove unwanted minor components such as free fatty acids, pigments, oxidation products and off-flavors.
Prime pressed cocoa butter

What is cocoa butter?

Cocoa butter is an important ingredient for chocolate and other confectionary products, having a major influence on the organoleptic and physical properties.

It is the most expensive ingredient and accounts for one third of the cost of the final product.

Cocoa butter is derived from the cocoa bean, the seed of the Theobroma tree, principally grown in South America and West Africa.

Once the shell has been removed from the seed, the remaining nib contains approximately 55% fat. Mature cocoa beans can store up to 700 mg of cocoa butter. Since a tree may produce as many as 2000 seeds a year, a single tree could yield up to 15 kg of cocoa butter annually.

The solvent extraction of cocoa butter has been developed and perfected over many years. In Holland, Dutch-extracted cocoa butter obtained reputation as a reliable article of commerce in the chocolate industry.

Cocoa butter is composed predominantly of (more than 75%) symmetrical triglycerides with oleic acid in the 2-position.

Approximately 20% of triglycerides are liquid at room temperature and cocoa butter has a melting range of 32 to 35 °C and softens at around 30 to 32 °C.
What is cocoa butter?

Chocolate A Healthy Food

Chocolate A Healthy Food
Chocolate actually is good for us. This is the nutrition news we have all been waiting for. And chocolate actually have a health benefits.

Recent studies show that cocoa and dark chocolate with a high cocoa content contain many heart-healthy antioxidants. They contain a compound called flavonoids which may help prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol levels in the blood. There is also some evidence that these flavonoids may prevent certain cancers.

However, not all chocolate have these health benefits. The healthy flavonoids found in chocolate are found in the cocoa butter and cocoa solids. Milk chocolate is diluted with milk and sugar and contains little amounts of these substances, therefore providing fewer health benefits.

The darker the chocolate, the higher the cocoa content and the more antioxidants it contains. The cocoa butter is quite pricey so less expensive brands will replace the cocoa butter with milk fats and hydrogenated oils which are bad for health. Look for high quality chocolates with their main ingredients being cocoa butter and cocoa solids. Unsweetened cocoa powder is one of the purest forms of chocolate can be eaten and is lower in fat and calories than other chocolates.

Although this is great news for all chocolate lovers, don’t forget that most chocolate does still contain sugar and saturated fat. An ounce of chocolate contains around 135 calories. Therefore, enjoy a cup of hot cocoa or an ounce of chocolate once in awhile to contribute to health and not to waistline.
Chocolate A Healthy Food