Chocolate

Chocolate is a food product made from roasted and ground cocoa beans, which are the seeds of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao).

It has various forms—liquid, solid, or paste—and is enjoyed both on its own and as a flavoring or coating in a wide range of foods, especially desserts and confections.

Cocoa pods are harvested from the cacao tree, and the beans inside are removed.

The beans are then fermented and dried to develop their characteristic flavors.

After drying, the cocoa beans are roasted, and their shells are removed, leaving behind cocoa nibs.

These nibs are ground into a paste called chocolate liquor, which contains both cocoa solids and cocoa butter.

Chocolate liquor can be processed into different products:

Baking chocolate: Pure chocolate liquor, sometimes with additional cocoa butter but no sugar.

Cocoa powder: Made by pressing out most of the cocoa butter from the liquor.

Sweet chocolate: Made by adding sugar and sometimes milk to the chocolate liquor.

Milk chocolate: Contains milk powder or condensed milk in addition to sugar and chocolate liquor.

White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, sugar, and milk, but contains no cocoa solids, which is why it is technically not considered chocolate by some definitions.

Chocolate is one of the most popular flavors worldwide and is used in a variety of foods such as cakes, brownies, cookies, and candies.

Commonly given as a gift.

Chocolate is used in both hot and cold beverages, including hot chocolate and chocolate milk.

The cacao tree is native to the tropical regions of the Americas, but today, most of the world’s cocoa is produced in West Africa, particularly Ivory Coast and Ghana.

Chocolate most commonly comes in dark, milk and white varieties, with cocoa solids contributing to the brown coloration.

Chocolate in foods are made from roasted and ground cocoa beans mixed with fat (cocoa butter) and powdered sugar to produce a solid confectionery.

There are several types of chocolate, classified primarily according to the proportion of cocoa and fat content used in a particular formulation.

Dark chocolate:

is produced using only cocoa butter, with no milk fat included.

It is made from chocolate liquor to which some sugar, more cocoa butter and vanilla are added.

Dark chocolate can be eaten as is, or used in cooking, for which thicker baking bars, usually with high cocoa percentages ranging from 70% to 100%, are sold.

A higher amount of cocoa solids indicates more bitterness.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not have a standard of identity for dark chocolate, but requires a minimum concentration of chocolate liquor of 15% for sweet chocolate and 35% for semisweet or bittersweet chocolate.

Bittersweet chocolate is a dark chocolate intended for baking with a low amount of sugar, with the sugar typically consisting of about 33% of the final mass.

Semi-sweet chocolate includes more sugar, resulting in a somewhat sweeter confection, but the two are largely interchangeable in baking.

Chocolate, especially dark chocolate with high cocoa content, offers several health benefits primarily due to its rich content of antioxidants called flavanols (such as epicatechin).

These compounds help fight inflammation and protect cells from damage caused by free radicals.

Dark chocolate can improve blood flow, lower blood pressure, increase “good” HDL cholesterol, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by preventing oxidation of LDL cholesterol.

High-cocoa chocolate may enhance capillary growth in muscles, including the heart, boosting oxygen delivery and energy production at the cellular level.

Flavanols in chocolate might improve brain function, memory, and focus, especially in older adults.

Eating chocolate may help improve mood, possibly due to its taste, texture, or phytochemicals.

Milk chocolate is solid chocolate made with milk.

Differences in flavor between different brands are due to differences in milk during production, such as by choosing powdered milk, condensed milk, chocolate crumb, or partially lipolyzed milk.

White chocolate,does not contain any cocoa solids that impart a dark color.

It is made of sugar, milk, and cocoa butter, which has been extracted from the cocoa liquor.

It is pale ivory colored, and lacks many of the compounds found in milk and dark chocolates.

Organic chocolate is chocolate has no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides used in growing the cocoa beans producing the chocolate.

Raw chocolate is chocolate that has not been processed, heated, or mixed with other ingredients, and includes many essential antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins, protein, iron, and fiber.

Poorly tempered or untempered chocolate may have whitish spots on the dark chocolate part, called chocolate bloom: an indication that sugar or fat has separated due to poor storage.

Chocolate bloom is not toxic and can be safely consumed.

In the US, baking chocolate containing no added sugar may be labeled as “ unsweetened chocolate.

Couverture chocolate is a class of high-quality chocolate containing a higher percentage of cocoa butter than other chocolate.

In 2015-2016 approximately 7,3 million tons of retail chocolate were consumed worldwide.

No association between chocolate intake and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, or both combined was observed in study participants free of pre-existing major chronic conditions- data from 83,310 postmenopausal women in the Women’s Health Initiative.