Articles - Cocoa
Cocoa is the dried and partially fermented fatty seed of
the cacao tree from which chocolate is made. "Cocoa" can often also
refer to cocoa powder, the dry powder made by grinding cocoa seeds and
removing the cocoa butter from the dark, bitter cocoa solids.
A cocoa pod has a rough leathery rind about 3 cm thick (this varies with
the origin and variety of pod). It is filled with sweet, mucilaginous
pulp called 'baba de cacao' in South America, enclosing 30 to 50 large
almond-like seeds (beans) that are fairly soft and pinkish or purplish
in color.
Production
World Production
Top Cocoa Producers
in 2004
(million metric tons)
Flag of Côte d'Ivoire Côte d'Ivoire 1.33
Flag of Ghana Ghana 0.74
Flag of Indonesia Indonesia 0.43
Flag of Nigeria Nigeria 0.37
Flag of Brazil Brazil 0.17
Flag of Cambodia Cambodia 0.13
Flag of Ecuador Ecuador 0.09
World Total 3.6
Source:
UN Food & Agriculture Organisation
(FAO)[1]
About 3,000,000 tonnes of cocoa is grown each year. The global
production was
1,556,484 t in 1974,
1,810,611 t in 1984,
2,672,173 t in 1994,
3,607,052 t in 2004 (record).
This is an increase of 131.7% in 30 years.
There are three main varieties of the Theobroma cacao: Forastero,
Criollo, and Trinitario. The first comprises 95% of the world production
of cacao, and is the most widely used. Overall, the highest quality of
cacao comes from the Criollo variety and is considered a delicacy[2];
however, Criollo is harder to produce, hence very few countries produce
it, with the majority of production coming from Venezuela (Chuao and
Porcelana). The Trinitario is a mix between Criollo and Forastero[3].
The Netherlands is the leading cocoa processing country, followed by the
U.S..
Cocoa and its products (including chocolate) are used world-wide.
Belgium had the highest per-capita consumption at 5.5 kg in 1995/96, 10
times the world average [1].
Harvesting
Cocoa pods in various stages of ripening
Cocoa pods in various stages of ripening
When the pods ripen, they are harvested from the trunks and branches of
the Cocoa tree with a curved knife on a long pole. The pod itself is
green when ready to harvest, rather than red or orange. Normally, red or
orange pods are considered of a lesser quality because their flavors and
aromas are poorer; these are used for industrial chocolate. The pods are
either opened on the field and the seeds extracted and carried to the
fermentation area on the plantation, or the whole pods are taken to the
fermentation area.
Processing
The harvested pods are opened with a machete, the pulp and cocoa seeds
are removed and the rind is discarded. The pulp and seeds are then piled
in heaps, placed in bins, or laid out on grates for several days. During
this time, the seeds and pulp undergo "sweating", where the thick pulp
liquifies as it ferments. The fermented pulp trickles away, leaving
cocoa seeds behind to be collected. Sweating is important for the
quality of the beans, which originally have a strong bitter taste. If
sweating is interrupted, the resulting cocoa may be ruined; if underdone
the cocoa seed maintains a flavor similar to raw potatoes and becomes
susceptible to mildew.
The liquified pulp is used by some cocoa producing countries to distill
alcoholic spirits.
Boy collecting cacao
Cacao drying under the sun
Cacao drying square in front of church, Chuao, Venezuela.
Woman drying cacao
The fermented beans are dried by spreading them out over a large surface
and constantly raking them. In large plantations, this is done on huge
trays under the sun or by using artificial heat. Small plantations may
dry their harvest on little trays or on cowhides. Finally, the beans are
trodden and shuffled about (often using bare human feet) and sometimes,
during this process, red clay mixed with water is sprinkled over the
beans to obtain a finer color, polish, and protection against molds
during shipment to factories in the United States, the Netherlands,
United Kingdom, and other countries. Drying in the sun is preferable to
drying by artificial means, as no foreign flavours such as smoke or oil
are introduced which might otherwise taint the flavour.
Chocolate production
To make 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of chocolate, about 300 to 600 beans are
processed, depending on the desired cocoa content. In a factory, the
beans are washed and roasted. Next they are de-hulled by a "nibber"
machine that also removes the germ. The nibs are ground between three
sets of stones into a thick creamy paste. This "liquor" is converted to
cocoa powder by removing part of its fatty oils (the "cocoa butter")
using a hydraulic press or the Broma process. This process produces
around 50% cocoa butter and 50% cocoa powder. Standard cocoa powder has
a fat content of approximately 10-12 percent. The extracted fatty oils
are used in confectionery, soaps, and cosmetics.
Adding an alkali produces Dutch process cocoa powder, which is less
acidic, darker and more mellow in flavour than what is generally
available in most of the world. Regular (nonalkalized) cocoa is acidic,
so when added to an alkaline ingredient like baking soda, the two react
and leave a byproduct.
Problems in the use of cocoa as a commodity
* Cocoa Farmers in many countries lack information on production and
marketing practices to help them improve their livelihoods.World Cocoa
Foundation helps to support sustainable cocoa efforts through
public-private partnerships in cocoa growing regions.
* Child slavery has commonly been used in its production to cover the
lower profit margin. According to the U.S. Department of State, more
than 109,000 children were working on cocoa farms in Côte d'Ivoire in
'the worst forms of child labor' in 2002.[2] See Cocoa Protocol for an
effort to end this practice. The Cocoa Protocol has been critiqued by a
number of groups including the International Labor Rights Fund since it
is an industry initiative which has failed to meet its goals of phasing
out child labor in the industry.
* Natural Pollination is exclusively by midges, which may be affected by
pesticides. Pollination is also carried out manually.
* Many cocoa farmers receive a low price for their production. This has
led to cocoa and chocolate being available as 'fair trade' items in some
countries. However, this fair trade remains as a tiny percentage of the
total trade.
Cocoa Trading
Cocoa beans, Cocoa butter and cocoa powder are traded on two world
exchanges: London and New York. The London market is based on West
African cocoa and New York on cocoa predominantly from South East Asia.
Cocoa is the world's smallest soft commodity market. The futures price
of cocoa butter and cocoa powder is determined by multiplying the bean
price by a ratio. The combined butter and powder ratio has tended to be
around 3.5. If the combined ratio falls below around 3.2, production
ceases to be economically viable and some factories cease extraction of
butter and powder and trade exclusively in cocoa liquor.
Image:wikCOCOA.jpg
Health benefits of cocoa consumption
Chocolate and cocoa contain a high level of flavonoids, specifically
epicatechin that may have beneficial cardiovascular effects on health.
The ingestion of flavonol-rich cocoa is associated with acute elevation
of circulating NO, enhanced flow-mediated vasodilation, and augmented
microcirculation. Prolonged intake of flavonol-rich cocoa has been
linked to cardio-vascular health benefits. Cocoa has also be known to
lower your blood preasure. Foods rich in cocoa appear to reduce blood
pressure but drinking green and black tea may not.
Non-human animal consumption
Chocolate is a food product with appeal not only to the human
population, but to many different animals as well. However, chocolate
and cocoa contain a high level of xanthines, specifically theobromine
and to a much lesser extent caffeine, that are detrimental to the health
of many animals, including dogs and cats. While these compounds have
desirable effects in humans, they cannot be efficiently metabolized in
many animals and can lead to cardiac and nervous system problems, and if
consumed in high quantities, even lead to death. However, since the
mid-2000s, some cocoa derivatives with a low concentration of xanthines,
have been designed by specialized industry to be suitable for pet
consumption, enabling the pet food industry to offer animal safe
chocolate and cocoa flavored products. It results in products with a
high concentration of fiber and proteins, while maintaining low
concentrations of sugar and other carbohydrates; thus enabling it to be
used to create healthy functional cocoa pet products.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa
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