Cocoa butter

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"Coco butter" redirects here. Not to be confused with
coconut butter
.
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Cocoa butter
α-Linolenic acid (0–1%)
Properties
Food energy per 100 g (3.5 oz)3,699 kilojoules (884 kcal)[1]
Melting point34.1 °C (93.4 °F), 35–36.5 °C (95.0–97.7 °F)
Solidity at 20 °C (68 °F)solid
Refractive index1.44556–1.44573
Iodine value32.11–35.12, 35.575
Acid value1.68
Saponification value191.214, 192.88–196.29

Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible

aroma. Its melting point is slightly below human body temperature. It is an essential ingredient of chocolate and related confectionary products. Cocoa butter does not contain butter or other animal products; it is vegan.[3]

Extraction and composition

The main constituent of cocoa butter is the triglyceride (fat) derived from palmitic acid, oleic acid, and stearic acid.

For use in chocolate manufacture, the cocoa beans are first fermented and then dried. The beans are then roasted and separated from their hulls to produce cocoa nibs.[4] About 54–58% of the cocoa nibs is cocoa butter. The cocoa nibs are ground to form cocoa mass, also known as cocoa liquor or chocolate liquor. Chocolate liquor is pressed to separate the cocoa butter from the non-fat cocoa solids.[5] Cocoa butter is sometimes deodorized to remove strong or undesirable tastes.[6]

Cocoa butter contains a high proportion of saturated fats also with the monounsaturated oleic acid in each triglyceride. The predominant triglycerides are POS, SOS, and POP, where P = palmitic, O = oleic, and S = stearic acid residues.[7][8][9][10] Cocoa butter, unlike non-fat cocoa solids, contains only traces of caffeine and theobromine.[11]

Typical fatty acid composition (%)[12]
Fatty acid Percentage
Arachidic acid (C20:0) 1.0%
Linoleic acid (C18:2) 3.2%
Oleic acid (C18:1) 34.5%
Palmitic acid (C16:0) 26.0%
Palmitoleic acid (C16:1) 0.3%
Stearic acid (C18:0) 34.5%
Other Fatty Acids 0.5%

Adulterants and substitutes

Some food manufacturers substitute less expensive materials in place of cocoa butter. Several analytical methods exist for testing for diluted cocoa butter. Adulterated cocoa butter is indicated by its lighter color and its diminished fluorescence upon ultraviolet illumination. Unlike cocoa butter, adulterated fat tends to smear and have a higher non-saponifiable content.[13]

Owing to the high cost of cocoa butter,[14][15] substitutes have been designed to use as alternatives. In the United States, 100% cocoa butter must be used for the product to be called chocolate. The EU requires that alternative fats not exceed 5% of the total fat content.[12]

Substitutes include:

mango kernel fat[16] and a mixture of mango kernel fat and palm oil,[17] and PGPR
.

Uses

Cocoa butter is a major ingredient in practically all types of chocolates (white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate). This application continues to dominate the consumption of cocoa butter.

Pharmaceutical companies use cocoa butter extensively. As a nontoxic solid at room temperature that melts at body temperature, it is considered an ideal base for medicinal suppositories.[18]

Personal care

For a fat melting around body temperature, cocoa has good stability. This quality, coupled with natural

emollient properties of cocoa butter have made it a popular ingredient in products for the skin, such as soaps and lotions
.

Physical properties

Fermenting cocoa beans on a farm east of Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands

Cocoa butter typically has a

polymorphism, having different crystalline forms with different melting points. Conventionally the assignment of cocoa butter crystalline forms uses the nomenclature of Wille and Lutton[20] with forms I, II, III, IV, V, and VI having melting points 17.3, 23.3, 25.5, 27.5, 33.8, and 36.3 °C (63.1, 73.9, 77.9, 81.5, 92.8, and 97.3 °F), respectively. The production of chocolate aims to crystallise the chocolate so that the cocoa butter is predominantly in form V, which is the most stable form that can be obtained from melted cocoa butter. (Form VI either develops in solid cocoa butter after long storage or is obtained by crystallisation from solvents). A uniform form V crystal structure will result in smooth texture, sheen, and snap. This structure is obtained by chocolate tempering. Melting the cocoa butter in chocolate and then allowing it to solidify without tempering leads to the formation of unstable polymorphic forms of cocoa butter. This can easily happen when chocolate bars are allowed to melt in a hot room and leads to the formation of white patches on the surface of the chocolate called fat bloom or chocolate bloom.[4]

Further reading

References

  1. ^ "Cocoa butter amounts converter". Convert-to.com. 15 August 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  2. ^ "Cocoa butter". Encyclopædia Britannica. July 1998. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
  3. ^ Adams, Ashley (12 August 2019). "Is Cocoa Butter Vegan and Dairy-Free?". The Spruce Eats. Dotdash Meredith. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b Industrial Chocolate Manufacture and Use, 4th Edition, ed S.T. Beckett, Chapter 12, G. Talbot
  5. ^ "Cocoa butter pressing". The Grenada Chocolate Company. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007.
  6. ^ The Nibble. "The World's Best White Chocolate Page 3: Percent Cacao & Cocoa Butter". Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  7. doi:10.1002/ejlt.200400938
    .
  8. ^ "Composition of the Cocoa Bean". Hershey Center for Health & Nutrition. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  9. PMID 11048595
    .
  10. S2CID 30329861
    .
  11. ^ "USDA nutrient database". Nal.usda.gov. 5 October 2016. Archived from the original on 3 March 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  12. ^ a b c Frank, Jill (24 October 2014). "Cocoa Butter Alternatives in Chocolate". Prospector.
  13. ISBN 978-3-527-30673-2
    .
  14. ^ "Cocoa butter prices, bean futures soar". www.foodbusinessnews.net. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  15. ^ Moriarty, Andrew. "Cocoa Price: The full story behind the cocoa bean price increase". www.mintecglobal.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  16. doi:10.1002/jsfa.2740320510
    .
  17. PMID 25328175
    .
  18. ^ Chew, Norma (24 November 2011). "What Are The Benefits of Cocoa Butter?". LiveStrong. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  19. ^ Skrzypiec, Marcin (12 January 2016). "Can Cocoa Powder Go Bad?". Can It Go Bad?. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  20. S2CID 45024885
    .
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