Chocolate Science and Technology

Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781118913772
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Tecnología e ingeniería
• Subtopic: Ciencia de los alimentos

This second edition provides information on recent advances in the science and technology of chocolate manufacture and the entire international cocoa industry. It provides detailed review on a wide range of topics including cocoa production, cocoa and chocolate manufacturing operations, sensory perception of chocolate quality, flavour release and perception, sugar replacement and alternative sweetening solutions in chocolate production, industrial manufacture of sugar-free chocolates as well as the nutrition and health benefits of cocoa and chocolate consumption.

The topics cover modern cocoa cultivation and production practices with special attention on cocoa bean composition, genotypic variations in the bean, post-harvest pre-treatments, fermentation and drying processes, and the biochemical basis of these operations. The scientific principles behind industrial chocolate manufacture are outlined with detailed explanations of the various stages of chocolate manufacturing including mixing, refining, conching and tempering. Other topics covered include the chemistry of flavour formation and development during cocoa processing and chocolate manufacture; volatile flavour compounds and their characteristics and identification; sensory descriptions and character; and flavour release and perception in chocolate. The nutritional and health benefits of cocoa and chocolate consumption as well as the application of HACCP and other food safety management systems such as ISO 22, 000 in the chocolate processing industry are also addressed. Additionally, detailed research on the influence of different raw materials and processing operations on the flavour and other quality characteristics of chocolates have been provided with scope for process optimization and improvement.

The book is intended to be a desk reference for all those engaged in the business of making and using chocolate worldwide; confectionery and chocolate scientists in industry and academia; students and practising food scientists and technologists; nutritionists and other health professionals; and libraries of institutions where agriculture, food science and nutrition is studied and researched.

Chapter 1
History, origin and taxonomy of cocoa

1.1 Introduction

Chocolate is derived from the cocoa bean, which is obtained from the fruit of the cocoa tree, Theobroma cacao (Linnaeus). The term ‘Cocoa’ is a corruption of the word ‘Cacao’ that is taken directly from Mayan and Aztec languages. It is indigenous to Central and South America and believed to have originated from the Amazon and Orinoco valleys. Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is one of the most important agricultural export commodities in the world and forms the backbone of the economies of some countries in West Africa, South America and South-East Asia. It is the leading foreign exchange earner and a great source of income for many families in most of the world's developing countries. In Ghana, cocoa is the second highest foreign exchange earner and an estimated 1 million farmers and their families depend on it for their livelihood (Afoakwa, 2014).

Currently, in 2016, cocoa is cultivated on an estimated land size of 8 million hectares in the tropics and secures the livelihoods of about 50 million people globally. More than 8 million of them are mainly smallholder farmers with an average farm size of just 3–4 hectares and an average family size of eight. Of these, some 1.5 million are within West Africa, the most important cocoa-growing region. Such families frequently live exclusively on cocoa farming and processing and are thus dependent mainly on cocoa for their livelihoods. Hence the economic importance of cocoa cannot be over-emphasized and the current global market value of annual cocoa crop is over $8.1 billion (World Cocoa Foundation, 2014).

Cocoa continues to be an important source of export earnings for many producing countries, particularly in Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia. Africa's heavy dependence on cocoa and also on other primary commodities as a source of export earnings has been vulnerable to market developments, in particular price volatility and weather conditions. However, in some circumstances, real exchange rates, domestic marketing arrangements and government intervention have acted to buffer price movements for cocoa producers. Cocoa was the second source of export earnings in Ghana in 2014, after gold, generating US$2.0 billion.

The African region accounts for approximately 72.3% of net world exports of cocoa and is by far the largest supplier of cocoa to world markets, followed by the Americas (16.7%) and then Asia and Oceania (11.0%), and the cocoa market remains highly concentrated, with the top five countries accounting for 87% of world net exports, and over 98% originated from the top 10 countries during the 5-year period 2010–2015. Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) is the world's leading exporter of cocoa, representing 40.6% of global net exports, followed by Ghana (19.2%) and Indonesia (8.9%) (ICCO, 2015a). Interestingly, there has been continuing repositioning of some countries, which in recent years have shown tremendous interest in advancing their cocoa production. In 2014, Ecuador exported ∼230 000 tonnes of cocoa, which positioned it as the fifth largest producer of cocoa in the world, displacing Cameroon and Brazil to sixth and seventh positions, respectively, and surpassed only by Nigeria, Indonesia, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. This means that Ecuador has advanced its position in the global market for the second consecutive year, having overtaken Brazil, one of the leading producers in Latin America, in 2013 (Ricky and Moncayo, 2015). With increased processing at origin, cocoa products now represent a slightly higher proportion of total cocoa exports in most cocoa-producing countries (ICCO, 2015a).

1.2 History of cocoa

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is a native species of tropical humid forests on the lower eastern equatorial slopes of the Andes in South America. Allen (1987) reported the centre of genetic diversity of T. cacao to be the Amazon Basin region of South America and all 37 collecting expeditions listed by End et al. (1990) seeking germplasm of wild cacao were to the Amazon Basin region. The word cacao is derived from the Olmec and the subsequent Mayan languages (Kakaw) and the chocolate-related term cacahuatl is Nahuatl (Aztec language) derived from Olmec/Mayan etymology (Dillinger et al., 2000). Cocoa was considered divine in origin and, in 1737, the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) named the cocoa tree Theobroma cacao, now its official botanical name, from the Greek word ‘ambrosia’, which refers to the mythical background of the tree, literally meaning ‘cocoa, food of the gods’ (Alvim, 1984; Barry Callebaut, 2008). Based on archaeological information, Purdy and Schmidt (1996) reported that the Mayans cultivated cocoa 2000–4000 years before Spanish contact. It is recorded that cocoa was domesticated and consumed for the first time by the Maya and Aztecs. The Maya, Olmec, Toltec and Aztecs used the beans of cocoa both as currency and as the base for a bitter drink (Purdy and Schmidt, 1996; Nair, 2010; ICE Futures U.S., 2011).

The name ‘cocoa’ is a corruption of the word cacao, which originated from the Am...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Dedication
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• About the author
• Chapter 1: History, origin and taxonomy of cocoa
• Chapter 2: World cocoa production, processing and chocolate consumption pattern
• Chapter 3: Traditional and modern cocoa cultivation practices
• Chapter 4: Cocoa diseases and pests and their effects on chocolate quality
• Chapter 5: Cocoa bean composition and chocolate flavour development
• Chapter 6: Cocoa processing technology
• Chapter 7: Industrial chocolate manufacture – processes and factors influencing quality
• Chapter 8: The chemistry of flavour development during cocoa processing and chocolate manufacture
• Chapter 9: Alternative sweetening and bulking solutions in chocolate manufacture
• Chapter 10: Sensory character and flavour perception of chocolates
• Chapter 11: Nutritional and health benefits of cocoa and chocolate consumption
• Chapter 12: Processing effects on the rheological, textural and melting properties during chocolate manufacture
• Chapter 13: Tempering behaviour during chocolate manufacture: Effects of varying product matrices
• Chapter 14: Tempering and fat crystallization effects on chocolate quality
• Chapter 15: Fat bloom formation and development in chocolates
• Chapter 16: Matrix effects on flavour volatiles character and release in chocolates
• Chapter 17: Process optimization and product quality characteristics during sugar-free chocolate manufacture
• Chapter 18: Food safety management systems in chocolate processing
• Chapter 19: Application of ISO 22000 and hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) in chocolate processing
• Chapter 20: Conclusions and industrial applications
• References
• Abbreviations
• Acronyms and websites of organizations related to the cocoa and chocolate industry
• Glossary of cocoa and chocolate terminologies
• Index
• End User License Agreement