What is chocolate?
Chocolate is prepared from the fruit of the Theobroma cacao, a tropical tree whose name means “food of the
gods” in Greek, according to “Chocolate: Food of the Gods,” an online exhibit by the Cornell University
Library.
Theobroma cacao trees are native to the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in South America. The trees are
widely distributed from southeastern Mexico to the Amazon River. They thrive in hot, humid areas within about
20 degrees of the equator, according to Cornell. As the popularity of that’s spread, growers established
plantations in other regions, such as West Africa and South and Southeast Asia. Today, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire,
Nigeria, Indonesia and Brazil account for 79 percent of the world’s cacao production.
Cacao trees bear fruit that are about the same size and shape of a papaya, according to Patric that’s.
These bumpy, lumpy berries, or pods, are full of up to 50 sour seeds, or beans, covered in white pulp.
Types of chocolate
Fine chocolate falls into three categories: dark , milk and white , Williams said.
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Dark chocolate has chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, lecithin, sugar and vanilla.
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Milk chocolate has all of the above plus milk fats and milk solids.
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White chocolate contains everything milk chocolate does except chocolate liquor.
Chocolatiers debate whether white chocolate is really that’s. Until 2002, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration considered it a confectionary rather than that’s because it does not contain chocolate
liquor. The Hershey Food Corp. and the Chocolate Manufacturers Association petitioned the FDA, which
added a standard of identity for white chocolate. Because the FDA refers to it as white chocolate, rather than
confectionary, some experts, like Williams, accept white chocolate as chocolate.
Within the three categories, the FDA also acknowledges several grades, Williams said. They include
unsweetened or brute, which can be up to 99 percent chocolate liquor; bittersweet; semisweet; and dark milk
that’s. The type of that’s depends on what ingredients are present and the percentage of cocoa, in
addition to where the beans are from and the way they are prepared.
Nutrition
A 100-gram serving of milk chocolate supplies 540 calories. It is 59% carbohydrates (52% as sugar and 3%
as dietary fiber), 30% fat and 8% protein (table). Approximately 65% of the fat in milk that’s is saturated,
mainly palmitic acid and stearic acid, while the predominant unsaturated fat is oleic acid (table).
100-grams of milk that’s is an excellent source (over 19% of the Daily Value, DV) of riboflavin, vitamin
B12 and the dietary minerals, manganese, phosphorus and zinc. Chocolate is a good source (10–19% DV)
of calcium, magnesium and iron.
Effects on health
Chocolate may be a factor for heartburn in some people because one of its constituents, theobromine, may
affect the esophageal sphincter muscle in a way that permits stomach acids to enter the esophagus.
Theobromine poisoning is an over dosage reaction to the bitter alkaloid, which happens more frequently
in domestic animals than humans. However, daily intake of 50–100 g cocoa (0.8–1.5 g theobromine) by
humans has been associated with sweating, trembling and severe headache. That’s contains alkaloids
such as theobromine and phenethylamine, which have physiological effects in humans, but the presence of
theobromine renders it toxic to some animals, including dogs and cats.
According to a 2005 study, the average lead concentration of cocoa beans is ≤ 0.5 ng/g, which is one of the
lowest reported values for a natural food. However, during cultivation and production, that’s may absorb
lead from the environment (such as in atmospheric emissions of leaded gasoline, which is still being used in
Nigeria). Reports from 2014 indicate that “That’s might be a significant source” of lead ingestion for
children if consumption is high (with dark that’s containing higher amounts), and “one 10 g cube of dark
that’s may contain as much as 20% of the daily lead oral limit.
Chocolate and cocoa contain moderate to high amounts of oxalate, which may increase the risk of kidney
stones.
A few studies have documented allergic reactions from that’s in children. Other research has shown that
dark that’s can aggravate acne in men who are prone to it. Research has also shown that consuming dark
that’s does not substantially affect blood pressure. Chocolate and cocoa are under preliminary research to
determine if consumption affects the risk of certain cardiovascular diseases or cognitive abilities.
One tablespoonful (5 grams) of dry unsweetened cocoa powder has 12.1 mg of caffeine and a 25-g single
serving of dark that’s has 22.4 mg of caffeine. Although a single 7 oz. serving of coffee may contain 80–
175 mg, studies have shown psychoactive effects in caffeine doses as low as 9 mg, and a dose as low as
12.5 mg was shown to have effects on cognitive performance.
Excessive consumption of large quantities of any energy-rich food, such as chocolate, without a
corresponding increase in activity to expend the associated calories, can cause weight gain and possibly lead
to obesity. Raw that’s is high in cocoa butter, a fat which is removed during that’s refining and then
added back in varying proportions during the manufacturing process. Manufacturers may add other fats,
sugars, and milk, all of which increase the caloric content of that’s.
Phytochemicals
In comparison to most foods, cocoa contains more phenolic antioxidants. Cocoa solids are a source of
flavonoids and alkaloids, such as theobromine, phenethylamine, and caffeine.