Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder is the cocoa beans (seeds) taken from the pods (fruits) produced by the cocoa tree, and the cocoa bean fragments (commonly known as cocoa cakes) obtained through fermentation, coarse crushing, peeling and other processes. The powder is cocoa powder. Cocoa powder is divided into high, medium and low-fat cocoa powder according to its fat content; according to different processing methods, it is divided into natural powder and alkalized powder. Cocoa powder has a strong cocoa aroma and can be used in high-grade chocolate, drinks, milk, ice cream, candy, cakes and other cocoa-containing foods.

1. In food field, cocoa powder is mainly used for drinks, manufacturing chocolate, candy, pastry, ice cream;

2. In health product field, it is used to lose weight;

3. In pharmaceutical field, it can be used as cough medicine.

1. Cocoa powder is divided into high-fat cocoa powder, medium-fat cocoa powder and low-fat cocoa powder according to the cocoa butter content. In the national standard, the cocoa butter content of high-fat cocoa powder is ≥20.0%, the cocoa butter content of medium-fat cocoa powder is 14.0%-20.0% (excluding 20.0%), and the cocoa butter content of low-fat cocoa powder is 10.0%-14.0% ( Excluding 14.0%). The cocoa butter content of high-fat cocoa powder in the industry is 20.0%-24.0%, the cocoa butter content of medium-fat cocoa powder is 10.0%-12.0%, and the cocoa butter content of low-fat cocoa powder is 8%.
2. Cocoa powder is divided into natural cocoa powder and alkalized cocoa powder according to the alkalization process. Among them, alkalized cocoa powder is divided into light alkalized cocoa powder and heavy alkalized cocoa powder.
3. Cocoa powder is divided into black cocoa powder, brown cocoa powder and red cocoa powder according to color.
4. Cocoa powder is divided into West African cocoa powder, Indonesian cocoa powder and so on according to the origin.

Natural cocoa powder is the light brown cocoa powder produced without adding any additives during the processing of cocoa beans into cocoa powder; while alkalized cocoa powder is the addition of edible alkali during the processing of cocoa beans to achieve pH adjustment. At the same time, the color of cocoa powder is also deepened, and the aroma is much stronger than natural cocoa powder. This is distinguished from the processing process, and ordinary people can't tell the difference. Let's compare it from the aspects of use and appearance.
Natural cocoa powder is lighter in color and less fragrant than alkalized cocoa powder. In terms of use, alkalized cocoa powder has a wider range of applications. Generally speaking, natural cocoa powder is not used in the production of liquid products, because the solubility is about 30%; alkalized cocoa powder can be used in the production of any food, and can also be directly ingested. Because the cost of alkalized cocoa powder is higher than that of natural cocoa powder, general food manufacturers basically use natural cocoa powder to produce solid products; and alkalized cocoa powder is used to produce liquid products such as liquid milk and beverages. Chocolate on the market is basically produced with natural cocoa powder, while chocolate-flavored milk tea is produced with alkalized powder.
There is another important difference between natural cocoa powder and alkalized cocoa powder, and that is the difference in pH. The pH value of natural cocoa powder is generally between 5.0 and 5.8; the pH value of alkalized cocoa powder is generally between 6.2 and 7.5.