Chocolate and Cocoa Products as A Source of Essential Elements in Nutrition

Abstract

In order to test current quality and nutritional merits of chocolate, 54 dark, plain and milk chocolate samples as well as cocoa were collected from the Austrian market and analyzed for many nutrient, essential and non essential elements, including the non-metals B, Si, S, and I. The cocoa contents ranged from 20-100%. Among the nonwanted trace elements, nickel was Gaussian distributed with a rather high mean of 4.9 mg/kg. Cd largely ranged below 0.20 mg/kg, but a few were higher, reaching 0.90 mg/kg. Contrary to previous studies, the same sample set was used to determine the contents of several element groups to look for interelement effects. Compared with element levels met in other sweets, element contents in chocolate were significantly higher. Many trace elements, like B-Co-Cr-Cu-Fe-Mn-Zn, ranged at levels met in green plants. Nickel concentrations were surprisingly high and about Gaussian distributed. Silicon was frequently higher than aluminium. Contaminants Pb, As, V, and Tl were very low, Cd was variable. Factor analysis grouped the element concentrations into B-Co-Cu-Mg-Mn-Ni-P-S-Zn, Al-CrFe-Si, and Ca-J-Na, which might represent a component from the cocoa bean, its outer shell, and milk. Contrary to other sweets, consumption of 100 g of chocolate satisfies the recommended daily intake for Cr-Cu-Fe, and 300 g for Mg and Zn, which is particularly important for the adequate trace element supply of children and vegans.

Influence of roasting process on changes in content of selected mineral compounds in chocolates obtained from beans from different regions of the world

“…Other results were obtained by Cinquanta et al [2016], who determined 515 mg•100 g -1 of potassium in bitter chocolate. Sager [2012] in turn report on the content of this element in bitter chocolates in the range of 1,880-3,392 mg•kg -1 , which is very similar to the research in this study. Whereas Mrmošanin et al [2018] determined the content of potassium in the amount of 236 mg•100 g -1 .…”

Scientific Opinion on the risks to public health related to the presence of chromium in food and drinking water

“…Both ‗Cocoa beans and cocoa products' and ‗Tea and herbs for infusions' have been reported in the literature as possessing high amounts of chromium. As an example, different cocoa samples and chocolate products were recently analysed for chromium values in the range 260-6260 g/kg (Sager, 2012). Similarly, high values of chromium have been reported in different herbs and infusions in a study carried out in Turkey (Başgel and Erdemoğlu, 2006), with concentrations in the range of 340-1220 g/kg.…”

Influence of calcium fortification on physical and rheological properties of sucrose-free prebiotic milk chocolates containing inulin and maltitol

“…Data obtained in previous studies also confirm this hypothesis. Sager (2012) reported the calcium contents of milk chocolate and dark chocolate as about 150-250 mg/kg and 50-100 mg/kg, respectively. The calcium content determined for the non-enriched control samples in the present study (169.8±9.9 mg/100 g) was consistent with the values obtained in these previous studies.…”

“…In chocolates, calcium concentrations depend on the cocoa and milk powder contents. Milk chocolate, which is the most preferred chocolate among children, as well as a high percentage of adults (Belscak-Cvitanovic et al 2012), contains a significantly varying amount of calcium than dark chocolate does; the amount of calcium contained in these types of chocolates can satisfy approximately 4.50-25.0 % of the RDA value in the case of 100 g chocolate consumption per day (Chekri et al 2012;Sager 2012). However, chocolate consumption at lower levels results in a decrease in this ratio.…”

“…For example, in Italy, the mean chocolate intake has been calculated as 9 g per day. In India, the consumption rate of chocolate for children has been estimated at 20 g per day (Dahiya et al 2005;Sager 2012;Sepe et al 2001). Therefore, it is believed that chocolates may also be a product that could benefit by being enriched with calcium.…”