Post by 1dave on May 29, 2022 15:45:55 GMT -5
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate
barandcocoa.com/pages/chemistry-of-chocolate
biobeat.nigms.nih.gov/2020/02/the-chemistry-of-chocolate/
www.scharffenberger.com/pages/the-origins-of-cacao
Chocolate is made from the baked and crushed seeds from the pods of the cacao tree.
According to data from CEPLAC (2001), the cocoa plant can be described as follows.
Height: it can reach 5–8 m of height and 4–6 m of diameter of the crown. However, it can reach up to 20 m under forest condition, due to competition for light with other species.
Flowers - pods
Flowers - growing pods
Drawing of a pod
Maturing Pods
From pod to coco.
There are 4 varieties.
Migration from the Amazon to Mexico
Compounds in Cocoa Solids
Chocolate also contains hundreds of chemical compounds, some of which react within the human brain to alter mood. These include:
Theobromine
Theobromine is a bitter chemical which widens the blood vessels, stimulates the heart, and acts as a mild diuretic; found in small amounts in cacao. Structurally the theobromine molecule is very similar to caffeine, and has similar effects.
Phenylethylamine
A bitter chemical which stimulates the body to make mood-altering drugs; often credited for chocolate’s uplifting effect.
Caffeine
A bitter chemical with similar structure to theobromine, with stimulant and slight anti-inflammatory properties; found in very small amounts in cacao.
Cannabinoid Receptor Activators
Chocolate contains three compounds which stimulate the production of anandamide, which binds to and activates cannabinoid receptors.
Beyond bodily and hormonal stimulants, cacao also contains salts made with metals, such as magnesium, potassium, calcium, and iron. These essential minerals may be present in small amounts, but they add up when you’re consuming chocolate with high cacao percentage.
How Do Compounds in Chocolate Contribute to Flavor?
Beyond the compounds found in cacao, it’s important to consider how the addition of sweeteners affects chocolate. Many of the compounds found in chocolate are bitter, which the brain associated with poison, making them unpleasant to eat. Sugar balances out those flavors, freeing the brain to focus on the hundreds of other compounds contributing to chocolate’s complex flavors.
Most chocolate contains a sweetener, usually some form of cane sugar, and those sugar molecules are also smoothed out and enveloped by cocoa butter during the conching process. Using a non-traditional sweetener, such as sugar alcohols or stevia powder, changes the composition and mouthfeel of the chocolate, sometimes making it taste sweeter. Erythritol in particular has a cooling effect in the mouth, which changes how you experience a chocolate’s flavor. With so many compounds in chocolate, it’s not possible for one chemical to completely dominate chocolate’s flavor more than sugar.
Menu
Chocolate Science
Where Does Chocolate Come From?
What Countries Grow Cacao?
How Is Chocolate Made?
The Production of Chocolate
How Are Cocoa Pods Harvested?
How Are Cocoa Beans Processed After Harvest?
How Do Cocoa Beans Get to Chocolate Makers?
Varieties Of Cocoa Beans
What are the Best Cocoa Beans in the World?
What Is The Chemistry Of Chocolate
The Difference Between Hot
Botanists believe that cocoa originates from the headwaters of the Amazon River, and it has expanded in two main directions, originating into two important groups: Criollo and Forastero (Pires, 2003). According to Beckett (1994), these terms were initially used in Venezuela to distinguish the native material of the region (Criollo) from the introduced material (Forastero). The Criollo, which spread northward to the Orinoco River, penetrating central America and southern Mexico, produces large fruits with a wrinkled, thin or thick surface, which presents red or green color (Tucci et al., 1996) (Fig. 1). In addition, its seeds are large, with a white or pale violet interior. It was the type of cacao cultivated by the Aztec and Mayan Indians. The Forastero has spread through the Amazon basin towards the Guianas. It is the true Brazilian cacao, which presents intensely pigmented seeds, with dark violet or blackish interior, green fruits when immature and yellow when ripe, ovoid shaped, smooth surface, imperceptibly furrowed or wrinkled (Beckett, 1994; CEPLAC, 2001).
According to Batalha (2009) the cocoa plant develops in the hot and humid climate in a geographic range comprised between the 20ºN and 20ºS parallels. Its cultivation extends from Venezuela, passing through Colombia, Central America and Mexico. When dispersing along the Amazon River, it also reaches the Guianas. However, about 70% of world production comes from West Africa, mainly from Ivory Coast (40%), Ghana (20%), Nigeria (5%), and Cameroon (5%). Brazil, before the introduction of the witch-broom disease (Moniliophtora perniciosa) in 1989, was the world's second largest cocoa producer, falling to the fourth position, accounting for only 4% after this disease (Leite, 2012).
barandcocoa.com/pages/chemistry-of-chocolate
biobeat.nigms.nih.gov/2020/02/the-chemistry-of-chocolate/
www.scharffenberger.com/pages/the-origins-of-cacao
Chocolate is made from the baked and crushed seeds from the pods of the cacao tree.
According to data from CEPLAC (2001), the cocoa plant can be described as follows.
Height: it can reach 5–8 m of height and 4–6 m of diameter of the crown. However, it can reach up to 20 m under forest condition, due to competition for light with other species.
Flowers - pods
Flowers - growing pods
Drawing of a pod
Maturing Pods
From pod to coco.
There are 4 varieties.
Migration from the Amazon to Mexico
History of Cacao
Cacao, a tree whose scientific name is Theobroma Cacao, was so named in 1753 by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus.
and cacao is the Spanish adaptation of the Mayan name for the tree: kakaw.
It is found in the wild state, from Peru to Mexico.
The cacao tree is believed to have evolved in the Upper Amazon region in an area that now includes parts of Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. From there it spread northward, probably with the help of early Amerindians, across the Andes and into Central America where it became a part of their diet and culture.
When Cortez landed in Mexico in the early 1500s, he found cacao intricately woven into the culture and mythology. Mixed with maize and spices, cacao was consumed as a beverage by royalty, warriors and rich merchants, while the seeds or beans were used as currency.
The Spaniards modified this native beverage, replacing maize with sugar and adding cinnamon and vanilla. Over time, all of Europe developed a taste for this new beverage, which they called chocolate, and soon cacao was spread to tropical regions around the globe.
Early attempts were made to grow cacao like sugar cane, on large plantations. However, because cacao grows best in the shade of taller trees, it is particularly suited for small, family farms and home gardens. Today, as much as 80% - 90% of the world’s cacao is produced on farms of seven acres or less.
Cacao, a tree whose scientific name is Theobroma Cacao, was so named in 1753 by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus.
Theobroma is Greek for “food of the gods,”
and cacao is the Spanish adaptation of the Mayan name for the tree: kakaw.
It is found in the wild state, from Peru to Mexico.
The cacao tree is believed to have evolved in the Upper Amazon region in an area that now includes parts of Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. From there it spread northward, probably with the help of early Amerindians, across the Andes and into Central America where it became a part of their diet and culture.
When Cortez landed in Mexico in the early 1500s, he found cacao intricately woven into the culture and mythology. Mixed with maize and spices, cacao was consumed as a beverage by royalty, warriors and rich merchants, while the seeds or beans were used as currency.
The Spaniards modified this native beverage, replacing maize with sugar and adding cinnamon and vanilla. Over time, all of Europe developed a taste for this new beverage, which they called chocolate, and soon cacao was spread to tropical regions around the globe.
Early attempts were made to grow cacao like sugar cane, on large plantations. However, because cacao grows best in the shade of taller trees, it is particularly suited for small, family farms and home gardens. Today, as much as 80% - 90% of the world’s cacao is produced on farms of seven acres or less.
Compounds in Cocoa Solids
Chocolate also contains hundreds of chemical compounds, some of which react within the human brain to alter mood. These include:
Theobromine
Theobromine is a bitter chemical which widens the blood vessels, stimulates the heart, and acts as a mild diuretic; found in small amounts in cacao. Structurally the theobromine molecule is very similar to caffeine, and has similar effects.
Phenylethylamine
A bitter chemical which stimulates the body to make mood-altering drugs; often credited for chocolate’s uplifting effect.
Caffeine
A bitter chemical with similar structure to theobromine, with stimulant and slight anti-inflammatory properties; found in very small amounts in cacao.
Cannabinoid Receptor Activators
Chocolate contains three compounds which stimulate the production of anandamide, which binds to and activates cannabinoid receptors.
Beyond bodily and hormonal stimulants, cacao also contains salts made with metals, such as magnesium, potassium, calcium, and iron. These essential minerals may be present in small amounts, but they add up when you’re consuming chocolate with high cacao percentage.
How Do Compounds in Chocolate Contribute to Flavor?
Beyond the compounds found in cacao, it’s important to consider how the addition of sweeteners affects chocolate. Many of the compounds found in chocolate are bitter, which the brain associated with poison, making them unpleasant to eat. Sugar balances out those flavors, freeing the brain to focus on the hundreds of other compounds contributing to chocolate’s complex flavors.
Most chocolate contains a sweetener, usually some form of cane sugar, and those sugar molecules are also smoothed out and enveloped by cocoa butter during the conching process. Using a non-traditional sweetener, such as sugar alcohols or stevia powder, changes the composition and mouthfeel of the chocolate, sometimes making it taste sweeter. Erythritol in particular has a cooling effect in the mouth, which changes how you experience a chocolate’s flavor. With so many compounds in chocolate, it’s not possible for one chemical to completely dominate chocolate’s flavor more than sugar.
Menu
Chocolate Science
Where Does Chocolate Come From?
What Countries Grow Cacao?
How Is Chocolate Made?
The Production of Chocolate
How Are Cocoa Pods Harvested?
How Are Cocoa Beans Processed After Harvest?
How Do Cocoa Beans Get to Chocolate Makers?
Varieties Of Cocoa Beans
What are the Best Cocoa Beans in the World?
What Is The Chemistry Of Chocolate
The Difference Between Hot
Cocoa, pronounced by the Olmecs as kakawa,[1] dates to 1000 BC or earlier.[1] The word "chocolate" entered the English language from Spanish in about 1600.[32] The word entered Spanish from the word chocolātl in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. The origin of the Nahuatl word is uncertain, as it does not appear in any early Nahuatl source, where the word for chocolate drink is cacahuatl, "cocoa water". It is possible that the Spaniards coined the word (perhaps in order to avoid caca, a vulgar Spanish word for "faeces") by combining the Yucatec Mayan word chocol, "hot", with the Nahuatl word atl, "water".[33] A widely cited proposal is that the derives from unattested xocolatl meaning "bitter drink" is unsupported; the change from x- to ch- is unexplained, as is the -l-. Another proposed etymology derives it from the word chicolatl, meaning "beaten drink", which may derive from the word for the frothing stick, chicoli.[34] Other scholars reject all these proposals, considering the origin of first element of the name to be unknown.[35] The term "chocolatier", for a chocolate confection maker, is attested from 1888.[36]
Types
Types
Botanists believe that cocoa originates from the headwaters of the Amazon River, and it has expanded in two main directions, originating into two important groups: Criollo and Forastero (Pires, 2003). According to Beckett (1994), these terms were initially used in Venezuela to distinguish the native material of the region (Criollo) from the introduced material (Forastero). The Criollo, which spread northward to the Orinoco River, penetrating central America and southern Mexico, produces large fruits with a wrinkled, thin or thick surface, which presents red or green color (Tucci et al., 1996) (Fig. 1). In addition, its seeds are large, with a white or pale violet interior. It was the type of cacao cultivated by the Aztec and Mayan Indians. The Forastero has spread through the Amazon basin towards the Guianas. It is the true Brazilian cacao, which presents intensely pigmented seeds, with dark violet or blackish interior, green fruits when immature and yellow when ripe, ovoid shaped, smooth surface, imperceptibly furrowed or wrinkled (Beckett, 1994; CEPLAC, 2001).
According to Batalha (2009) the cocoa plant develops in the hot and humid climate in a geographic range comprised between the 20ºN and 20ºS parallels. Its cultivation extends from Venezuela, passing through Colombia, Central America and Mexico. When dispersing along the Amazon River, it also reaches the Guianas. However, about 70% of world production comes from West Africa, mainly from Ivory Coast (40%), Ghana (20%), Nigeria (5%), and Cameroon (5%). Brazil, before the introduction of the witch-broom disease (Moniliophtora perniciosa) in 1989, was the world's second largest cocoa producer, falling to the fourth position, accounting for only 4% after this disease (Leite, 2012).