Cocoa butter

Cocoa butter is the constituent lipid component of chocolate, which constitutes the continuous phase. Its characteristic affects various parameters during chocolate processing, storage and consumption. With a duality between extremely interesting and at the same time restricted aspects.

It is a rigid fat at room temperature, melting abruptly at human body temperature, causing an extremely pleasant sensation and the release of aromas, which make chocolate such a global success. These characteristics are due to its chemical composition and the profile of its fatty acids, with a perfect balance between saturated and unsaturated.

“The structure of these acids directly affects the way chocolate behaves in the manufacturing process and on the characteristics of the final product, such as texture, viscosity, melting behavior, and flavor (Afoakwa, 2010).”

Their complex crystallization behavior also explains the very attractive characteristics of chocolate products, that they melt exactly at body temperature, providing a pleasant mouthfeel. This crystalline behavior is due to its polymorphic characteristics, that is, its fatty acids crystallize in different forms. For this reason, for the perfect crystallization of cocoa butter, a controlled crystallization process, known as tempering, must take place.

As cocoa butter cools from solid to liquid form, fat crystals form. Because they are a polyformic fat, as mentioned, these crystals can be configured in random and various shapes. In the tempering process, a fundamental step in chocolate manufacturing, controlled crystallization occurs, so that the temperature drop is gradual and constant, forming stable crystals.

Crystallization, once initiated, has an exponential effect, where one crystal influences the crystalline behavior of other new crystals. For this reason, in addition to the controlled reduction of temperature, another characteristic of temperature is the movement of chocolate. This movement causes these formed crystals to behave like crystallization seeds for other new fat crystals. Successful tempering directly influences the sensory acceptance of chocolate texture, aroma, and appearance.

Like other fats, although crystallized, cocoa butter maintains a solid fraction and a liquid fraction, and as the temperature increases or decreases, this proportion changes. With this change, cocoa butter oscillates its crystalline form as it undergoes temperature variation. High temperatures followed by oscillations cause the cocoa butter to melt partially, compromising the appearance of the chocolate, leaving it soft and sometimes whitish and brittle. This is the Fat Bloom, the biggest loss and challenge in the sector.

The origin of cacao butter can significantly impact its crystallization behavior. The physico-chemical characteristics are affected by the different natural influences of the cacao production region. However, not only environmental conditions, but also agricultural and post-harvest practices, can induce the variability of the chemical and aromatic composition of cocoa butter.

Industrially, in order to maintain a constant pattern in the characteristics of cocoa butter, manufacturing factories make blends, which are popularly referred to as “blends”, between butters from different origins. This process aims to standardize, especially the solid profile, and consequently the hardness of butter, a parameter that influences the manufacture, storage, logistics and distribution of chocolate.

Among the smaller producers, manufacturers of original chocolates and small batches, in which they aim to offer the sensory experience of different origins and vintages, cacao butter especially has a great impact. Much of the aromatic composition of cacao is present in its lipid part, that is, in butter. Thus, in addition to different perceptions of the chocolate texture, the consumer of single-origin chocolates enjoys the aromas of the so unique, cocoa butter.