
Bitter chocolate, has a high concentration of cocoa mass and low sugar content. A bar of chocolate (30 g) contains an average of 165 calories and between 2 to 3 g of protein. Milk chocolate or half-bitter chocolate contain between 40% and 53% cocoa butter. In milk chocolate, the cocoa mass is partly replaced by milk powder, giving it a sweeter taste. Chocolate also contains vitamins A, B, C, D, and potassium, sodium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, manganese, copper, zinc and selenium (Leite, 2012 Torres-Moreno, Torrescasana et al., 2015 Oliveira et al., 2021 ).
Chocolate caffeine content free#
These molecules can function as primary antioxidants, directly reducing the formation of free radicals (Hu et al., 2016 Mudenuti et al., 2018 ). Chocolate is known to contain polyphenols and flavonoids (Counet et al., 2006 Alvarez-Barreto et al., 2018 Muhammad et al, 2018 ) and these compounds are in higher concentrations in bitter chocolate, presenting greater health benefits and antioxidant activity (Lee et al., 2003 Hu et al., 2016 Mudenuti et al., 2018 Tafurt et al., 2021 ).Ĭhocolate is a good source of polyphenols (Torres-Moreno et al., 2012 Hu et al., 2016 ) such as epicatechin and catechin, along with the proanthocyanin oligomers (Gu et al., 2004 Gu et al., 2006 Vinson et al., 2006 De Oliveira & Genovese, 2013 Cambrai et al., 2017 Martini et al., 2018 Fayeulle et al., 2019 ) and alkaloids, such as theobromine and phenethylamine (Gopalakrishnan et al., 2021). Chocolate and cocoa seeds have several medicinal applications, such as: stimulating the nervous system, the stomach and kidneys activity, treating fever, tuberculosis, treating low virility and anaemia, against mental fatigue, including cardiovascular benefits, among others (Efraim et al., 2011 Vicentim & Marcellino, 2012 Kerimi & Williamson, 2015 Magrone et al., 2017 Anwar et al., 2018 Kardum & Glibetic, 2018 Stanley et al., 2018 Coutinho et al., 2019 Godočiková et al., 2020 ). The Mayan and Aztec people, in South America, where the first to document its use. Chocolates are important for human health and are considered functional foods.Ĭhocolate is a solid dispersion of cocoa seeds (Theobroma cacao), sugar particles, additives, cocoa butter, lecithin and flavourings, giving an average of 568 kcal/100g (Leite, 2012 Godočiková et al., 2019 ). This work contributed to the confirmation of the properties of the chocolates, highlighting the importance of the artisan product. It is the presence of cocoa that determines the antioxidant activity of chocolates. The same happened with the antioxidant activity, which is correlated to the amount of phenolics, caffeine and theobromine, shown by the statistical analysis. The ones with the highest phenolic contents were those with the highest cocoa mass content. White chocolate had no phenolics nor caffeine or theobromine.

The levels of phenols, caffeine and theobromine varied between types.

We develop a simple method by HPLC-DAD (High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode-Array Detection) to quantify methylxanthines whose identification has been confirmed by UPLC- MS (Ultra performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer). Fat contents and insoluble residues were similar to those reported in the literature. Analysis of fat, insoluble solids, total phenols, theobromine and caffeine contents and antioxidant capacity were carried out to evaluate the quality of artisan and commercial chocolate products in Brazil. Several types of chocolate were analysed: bitter, half-bitter, milk chocolate, 70% cocoa, white chocolate and cocoa seeds.
