
Study Finds Higher Cocoa Content Equals More
Antioxidants
A new Agricultural Research Service (ARS) study evaluating total amounts of flavanols and antioxidant capacity in cocoa and chocolate shows that antioxidants are found in a range of chocolate products—but more so in those with a higher cocoa content. Scientists from ARS, the chief scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, presented the findings at Experimental Biology 2005, an international scientific conference held in San Diego earlier this month.
The study was funded in part by the American Cocoa
Research Institute (ACRI), the research arm of the Chocolate Manufacturers
Association (CMA). In this study, the scientists found that the chocolates
ranked in antioxidant capacity from highest amount to lowest were natural
cocoa powder, unsweetened baking chocolate, alkalinized or
“Dutch” cocoa powder, dark chocolates, semi-sweet chocolate
baking chips, and milk chocolates.
The results were based on chocolate samples from
commercially available products under nine brands, as well as reference
standards provided by the United States National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST). ARS scientists, located at the Beltsville Human
Nutrition Center, Brunswick Labs, and the Arkansas Children’s
Nutrition Center, analyzed these samples in a blind test for flavanol
content and antioxidant capacity.
Flavanols are the main flavonoids found in cocoa and
chocolate. Research over the past decade has identified flavonoids as
showing diverse beneficial physiological and antioxidant effects.
Flavonoids are compounds also found in fruits, vegetables, and certain
beverages such as tea, red wine, and grape juice.
“These results indicate that products derived
from cocoa beans, which come from the cacao tree, also contain flavanols,
with the highest amount in natural cocoa powders,” explains Dr. Leah
Porter, vice president of scientific affairs for the CMA. “This study
also demonstrates that chocolate products containing higher amounts of
cocoa have higher antioxidant capacity.”
“The findings provide further scientific
evidence that cocoa is a rich source of antioxidant activity, such as other
antioxidant-rich foods including red wine, cranberries and
blueberries,” said CMA President Lynn Bragg. “This research
increases knowledge of a wonderfully familiar food, and comes at a time
when we are finding new ways to use cocoa and chocolate (e.g., as an
ingredient and flavor) in a variety of foods. There is a chocolate for
everyone and it can be enjoyed—in moderate portions—as part of
a balanced diet.”
Bragg emphasized that chocolate has been and will
continue to be an important research area, and that “we are
constantly learning more about its many unique properties.”