Cocoa bean (also cacao bean, often simply cocoa and cacao) is the dried and fully fermented fatty seed of Theobroma cacao, from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter are extracted. A cocoa pod (fruit) 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 seeds that are fairly soft and pale pink or lavender in color. Seeds usually are white, becoming violet or reddish brown during the drying process. The exception is rare varieties of white cacao, in which the seeds remain white.

Specifications

• Moisture 6-8%
• Bean Counts 100-115 beans per 100g
• Moulds 3-5%
• Slaty 4-5%
• E.Coli Negative
• Broken beans 2-3%
• Impurity 2-4%

Uses

Cocoa seeds are the source of commercial cocoa (cocoa beans), the four intermediate cocoa products (cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, cocoa cake and cocoa powder) and chocolate. Although the market for chocolate is the largest consumer of cocoa in terms of bean equivalent, intermediate products such as cocoa powder and cocoa butter are used in several areas.

Cocoa powder is essentially used as flavor in biscuits, ice cream, dairy drinks and cakes. Apart its use as flavor it is also used in the manufacture of coatings for confectioners or frozen desserts. Cocoa powder is also consumed by the beverage industry for example for the preparation of chocolate milk.

Besides the traditional uses in chocolate manufacture and confectionery, cocoa butter is also used in the manufacture of tobacco, soap and cosmetics. It is also a folk remedy for burns, cough, dry lips, fever, malaria, rheumatism, snakebite and wounds. It is reported to be antiseptic and diuretic.