Cocoa

Cocoa: a plant classifiable as an alkaloid and / or oleaginous drug, because it produces both cocoa powder, rich in alkaloids and carbohydrates, and a triglycerine fraction known as cocoa butter.

The Theobroma cacao plant belongs to the Sterculiacee family; is a small South American tree with berry fruit containing a number of seeds ranging from 40 to 80, depending on the variety.

The seeds represent the drug and undergo a particular process: they are harvested, cleaned and left to ferment, on outdoor racks, so that the aroma is generated; fermentation can last up to two weeks: the longer it is prolonged, the more the organoleptic characteristics of the drug are enhanced. The cocoa resulting from this fermentation process is addressed to the confectionery industry; it is therefore a product intended for the diet sector. If, on the other hand, the fermentation is reduced to one to two days maximum, the resulting cocoa will be less aromatic than the previous one, but will have a richer triglycerol fraction which will make it particularly suitable for the cosmetic sector.

Fermentation is followed by a phase of mild drying, which is sometimes not carried out (optional). Roasting follows, at 100-140 ° C, which characterizes the drug in its final aspect: black-brown color and more fragile consistency than the source of departure. From this procedure the cocoa beans are obtained, which is in turn subjected to processing; it is a mechanical extraction, necessary to separate the glyceric fraction from the rest of the seed; technically speaking the cocoa butter is separated from the panel, the latter characterized by the presence of proteins, carbohydrates and alkaloids; even a minimal fat portion is separated.

From the squeezing the cocoa butter is obtained and not the oil, because at room temperature it assumes a semi-solid consistency, due to the high quantity of saturated fatty acids. This butter is added with a further fat fraction, which can be extracted from the panel by solvent extraction, generally with hexane.

Cocoa powder contains the following alkaloids: caffeine and theobromine, both with stimulating properties.

Cocoa butter has characteristics of functional expression as an excipient; in the cosmetic field it is used in the hypoallergenic lip sticks, but its use has decreased over time due to the high production cost.

In the last decade cocoa plantations have undergone very consistent phytopathogenic attacks, due to the marked agronomic selections performed on this plant; today we are trying to set up new plantations in Ivory Coast and Africa.