Chocolate is a food that is prepared by mixing cocoa paste and cocoa butter, both obtained from cocoa beans, with sugar. Other ingredients such as milk, vegetable fats and flavorings are often added. It is consumed alone or with other foods and is currently one of the most widely used candy flavorings in the world.
Chocolate has a stimulating effect and it is very common to associate it with the caffeine content of cocoa, but the reality is that cocoa has very low amounts of caffeine. The stimulating effect is mainly due to the theobromine.
Theobromine and caffeine in cocoa
Chocolate can effectively be classified as a fruitive food with stimulating effects. It contains many exciting substances, including caffeine, but the stimulating effect is mainly due to another substance, theobromine. The concentration of caffeine is very low and its stimulating effect would be negligible.
Theobromine and caffeine molecules are structurally very closely related. Both substances with alkaloids of the xanthine group, caffeine is 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine and theobromine is 3,7-dimethylxanthine. Furthermore, theobromine is one of the main metabolites of caffeine.
This close relationship means that both substances are frequently confused and detected as the same in some analysis techniques. Furthermore, many authors speak of contained in "caffeine analogs» cocoawhich may help perpetuate this confusion.
Cocoa pods, the fruit of Theobroma cacaoThey contain several seeds inside, each one made up of an external part, the shell, and an internal part, the germ. Before use, the fruits are fermented and dried. The dried seeds are commonly known as cocoa beans. In this process, chemical changes are produced that are responsible for much of the aroma and flavor of chocolate. After drying and fermentation, according to information published by the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO)1the caffeine and theobromine content of the seeds is:
- Cascara: 0.3% caffeine / 0.9% theobromine
- Germ: 0.7% caffeine / 1.7% theobromine
The shell is usually discarded and with the ground germ the mass or cocoa paste is made. Cocoa butter and so-called cocoa solids from which cocoa powder is made are separated from the paste. Very low amounts of theobromine and caffeine remain in butter, sometimes undetectableand remain in higher concentration in the solids.
Chocolate is made with sugar, cocoa butter and cocoa paste, so the concentration of caffeine in the cocoa paste would be diluted. In addition, other ingredients are usually added that further dilute the concentration of caffeine, for example milk and vegetable fats.
Keep in mind that some chocolate products may have added caffeine, for example those known as energy bars. All this, together with the different proportions of ingredients of each variety of chocolate, means that the amount of caffeine and theobromine in the final products is highly variable:
- The dark chocolates they are made with a higher proportion of cocoa paste than butter and therefore contain more caffeine than milk chocolates or white chocolates, although generally always below 1%3.
- The cocoa powder without additives contains about 0.2% caffeine and 2% theobrominetwobeing able to reach 2.8% theobromine1.
- The sweet chocolates, with milk and white chocolates They are the ones that contain the least amount of cocoa and therefore also the ones that contain the least caffeine. In these chocolates, the most common, the amount of caffeine could be considered as traces despicable.
Other stimulant and psychoactive substances in chocolate
In addition to caffeine and theobromine, cocoa and derivative products contain other substances with a stimulating effect and also with an effect on the central nervous system. Among them are the tryptophan and the phenylethylamine. Tryptophan is a precursor neurotransmitter of serotonin, a substance with a calming, non-stimulant effect. Numerous psychoactive effects have been attributed to phenylethylamine, among them it has been associated with feeling of lovebut it is rapidly metabolized and does not reach the brain in significant amounts.
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