Polyphenol-Rich Cocoa Powder Production via Early Fat Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current industrial processes for producing cocoa powder often result in a significant decrease in polyphenol content due to fermentation, roasting, and drying steps, making it challenging to achieve cocoa products with high polyphenol and low fat content.
Innovation Solution
A process involving peeling, depulping, blanching, drying, defatting, stabilizing, grinding, and micronizing of fresh unfermented cocoa beans, with optional phases like purification using an Amberlite column, to produce cocoa powder with a polyphenol content of over 10% and fat content of less than 12%, utilizing the CCN-51 clone from the Quevedo region in Ecuador as the starting material.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If traditional fermentation, roasting and drying steps are used in cocoa processing, then the characteristic cocoa color and flavor are developed, but the polyphenol content decreases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the fat component from cocoa beans through mechanical pressing before the beans are subjected to fermentation, roasting and drying. This extraction step separates the polyphenol-rich solid material from the fat, allowing the polyphenols to be preserved during subsequent processing while reducing the overall fat content in the final cocoa powder product.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs fat extraction as a preliminary step before the traditional fermentation, roasting and drying sequence. By removing fat early in the process, the subsequent thermal and enzymatic treatments do not degrade polyphenols to the same extent, as the polyphenol-rich material is already separated from the fat matrix that would otherwise be processed together through harsh conditions.
2Quantity of substance
If fat content is reduced through defatting processes, then the polyphenol concentration increases, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the fat extraction step with the initial mechanical processing of cocoa beans, integrating defatting into the existing flow rather than adding a completely separate complex system. The mechanical press used for fat extraction can be incorporated into the standard processing line, and the separated solid material continues through existing fermentation, roasting and drying equipment, thereby reducing overall process complexity while achieving polyphenol enrichment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The process effectively preserves the initial polyphenol content and reduces fat to achieve cocoa powder with a high polyphenol content and low fat content, maintaining the desired particle size and quality, enhancing the nutritional value and shelf life of the final product.
Implementation Method 1
blanching the seeds, wherein the depulped cocoa is submersed in water until the internal part of the seed reaches a temperature between 85 and 100°C, which is maintained for a period between 3 and 15 minutes
Implementation Method 2
drying the seeds
Implementation Method 3
defatting, wherein mechanical pressing is carried out by means of continuous expeller type presses at a temperature between 35°C and 85°C
Implementation Method 4
stabilizing the defatted product, wherein the temperature of the defatted cocoa solid is reduced to less than 35°C in a continuous cooler with stirring blades
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for obtaining polyphenol-rich cocoa powder with a low fat content and to the cocoa thus obtained. The method optionally includes a phase comprising the purification of the polyphenols obtained from the defatted cocoa cake using an Amberlite column. The end product has a particle size of less than 3 mm for 99 % of the particles and a polyphenol content of preferably between 60 and 90 % and a fat content of less than 12 % in relation to the weight of the dry matter.