Missouri student backed by PMCA grant completes research on chocolate bitterness
Research yields method for simultaneous extraction, analysis of bitter compounds.
University of Missouri-Columbia student Alan McClure, PMCA’s 2018-2019 grant-in-aid recipient, has completed his research project, “Optimization of Bitterness in Chocolate Through Roasting with Analysis of Related Changes in Important Bitter Compounds.”
Chocolate is made from the fermented, dried and roasted seeds of the Theobroma cacao tree, an important agricultural food crop which contains bioactive flavonoid polyphenols with beneficial health effects. These include improvement of antioxidant status, positive impacts on cardiovascular health and endocrine system function, association with cancer prevention, LDL cholesterol reduction and correlation with reduction of obesity and related conditions.