| Cocoa butter | |
Raw cocoa butter |
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Fat composition
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| Saturated fats | 57-64%: stearic acid (24-37%), capric acid (0-10%), myristic acid, (0-4%), arachidic acid (1%), lauric acid (0-1%) |
| Unsaturated fats | 36-43% |
| Monounsaturated fats | 29-43% (29-38% oleic acid, 35–41% palmitoleic acid), 0-2% |
| Polyunsaturated fats | 0-5% (linoleic acid, 0–3%, 1-4%, Linolenic acid (0-1%) |
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Properties
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| Food energy per 100g | 3770 kJ (900 kcal) |
| Melting point | 34.1 °C (93.4 °F), 35–36.5 °C (95–98 °F) |
| Solidity at 20 °C | solid |
| Refractive index | 1.44556-1.44573 |
| Iodine value | 32.11-35.12, 35.575 |
| Acid value | 1.68 |
| Saponification value | 191.214, 192.88-196.29 |
Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, pure edible vegetable fat extracted from the cocoa bean. It is used to make chocolate, biscuits, and baked goods, as well as some pharmaceuticals, ointments, and toiletries.[1] Cocoa butter has a mild chocolate flavor and aroma.
Contents |
Cocoa butter has a high content of saturated fats derived from stearic and palmitic acids.[2][3] Cocoa butter, unlike cocoa solids, has no more than trace amounts of caffeine and theobromine.[4]
Cocoa butter is obtained from either whole cacao beans, which are fermented, roasted, and then separated from their hulls. About 54 – 58% of the residue is cocoa butter. Chocolate liquor is pressed to separate the cocoa butter from the cocoa solids.[5] The Broma process is used to extract cocoa butter from ground cacao beans. Cocoa butter is usually deodorized to remove its strong and undesirable taste.[6]
Some food manufacturers substitute less expensive materials such as vegetable oils and fats in place of cocoa butter. (See false advertising). Several analytical methods exist for testing for diluted cocoa butter. Adulterated cocoa butter is indicated by its lighter colour and its diminished fluorescence upon ultraviolet illumination. Unlike cocoa butter, adulterated fat tends to smear and have a higher non saponifiable content.[7]
Cocoa butter is the major ingredient in the commercial production of both white chocolate and milk chocolate. This application continues to dominate consumption of cocoa butter.
Pharmaceutical companies exploit cocoa butter's physical properties. As a nontoxic solid at room temperature that melts at body temperature, it is considered an ideal base for medicinal suppositories.
Cocoa butter is one of the most stable fats known, a quality that coupled with natural antioxidants that prevent rancidity, grants it a storage life of two to five years. The velvety texture, pleasant fragrance and emollient properties of cocoa butter have made it a popular ingredient in products for the skin, such as cosmetics, soaps and lotions.
The moisturizing abilities of cocoa butter are frequently recommended for prevention of stretch marks in pregnant women, treatment of chapped skin and lips, and as a daily moisturizer to prevent dry, itchy skin. However, the largest clinical study regarding the effects of cocoa butter on stretch marks in pregnant women found that results were no different from placebo.[8]
The most common form of cocoa butter has a melting point of around 34-38 °C (93-100 °F), rendering chocolate a solid at room temperature that readily melts once inside the mouth. Cocoa butter displays polymorphism, having α, γ, β', and β crystals, with melting points of 17, 23, 26, and 35–37 °C respectively. The production of chocolate typically uses only the β crystal for its high melting point. A uniform crystal structure will result in smooth texture, sheen, and snap. Overheating cocoa butter converts the structure to a less stable form that melts below room temperature. Given time, it will naturally return to the most stable β crystal form. This phenomenon is taken advantage of in the polymorphic transformation theory of chocolate bloom. It is based on the fact that bloomed chocolates are always found to contain the most stable polymorph of cocoa butter. According to this theory, bloom occurs through the uncontrolled polymorphic transformation of cocoa butter from a less stable form to the most stable form.
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