Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible fat extracted from the cocoa beans. Cocoa butter is one of the most crucial ingredients used to produce flavorful white chocolate and milk chocolate. It is extracted out of cocoa beans which come from the rigorous process of fermentation, roasting, and separation from their hulls. Around 58% of cocoa beans’ residues give us cocoa butter. To separate cocoa butter from cocoa solids, an extreme pressure is released over chocolate liquor.
Application
Due to its properties, cocoa butter is the prominent ingredient for food/medicinal consumption-industries.
- Cocoa butter is a major ingredient in practically all types of chocolates (white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate). This application continues to dominate consumption of cocoa butter.
- Pharmaceutical companies use cocoa butter’s physical properties extensively. As a non-toxic solid at room temperature that melts at body temperature, it is considered an ideal base for medicinal suppositories.
For a fat melting around body temperature, cocoa has good stability. This quality, coupled with natural antioxidants, prevents rancidity – giving it a storage life of two to five years The velvety texture, pleasant fragrance and emollient properties of cocoa butter have made it a popular ingredient in products for the skin, such as soaps and lotions.