What is chocolate According to the online exhibition of "Chocolate: God's Food" in Cornell University Library, "Chocolate is made from the fruit of cocoa tree, whose name means" God's Food "in Greek.
Cocoa trees are native to the Amazon River and Orinoco River basins in South America. These trees are widely distributed, from southeastern Mexico to the Amazon River. According to Cornell University, they grow in hot and humid areas within 20 degrees of the equator. With the popularization of chocolate, growers have established plantations in West Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and other regions. Today, Ghana, C? te d 'Ivoire, Nigeria, Indonesia and Brazil account for 79% of the world's cocoa production.
The size and shape of the fruit produced by cocoa trees are similar to those of papaya. According to Cornell University, these rough, caked berries or pods are rich in seeds or beans of 50 acids and covered with white pulp.
Cocoa seeds are harvested by hand because machines may harm trees. The workers took the ripe orange pods away and cut them with machetes. The seeds are placed in a large fermentation pan filled with banana leaves and left for two to seven days. Fermentation produces the fragrance of chocolate. It can also destroy the embryo of the seed, prevent unnecessary germination, and make the seed shed white pulp.
After fermentation, the beans are dried on a sunny platform. Workers turn it over several times a day for three to five days before they can finish drying. According to Cornell University, beans can be dried faster in a rotary dryer, but dried beans taste the best.
Next, the coffee beans are sent to the chocolate factory, where they are washed and the residue is removed. Beans are baked in a big rotating oven. After roasting according to taste, the coffee beans are taken out of the shell. The baked beans enter the air separator, which crushes the beans and removes the shells. The rest of the bean is called the nib. The nib turned into chocolate.
The nib is ground under a series of rollers. This process produces a thick paste called chocolate wine. Chocolate wine contains no alcohol (however, chocolate wine contains alcohol). According to Pam Williams, co-founder and former chairman of the American Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA) and founder and chief lecturer of the Ecole Cocolat Chocolate Art Institute, chocolate is the main source of unsweetened baking chocolate.
At this stage, the type of chocolate to be produced will be determined. According to FCIA, the composition of chocolate distinguishes high-quality chocolate from ordinary chocolate. According to FCIA, "refined chocolate" only contains cocoa liquor, cocoa butter (optional), sugar, lecithin, vanilla (optional) and possible milk fat and solids. Other flavors or ingredients, such as nuts, can be added later.
Williams said: There are three kinds of high-quality chocolates: dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate.
Dark chocolate includes chocolate wine, cocoa butter, lecithin, sugar and vanilla. Milk chocolate contains all the above ingredients, plus milk fat and milk solids. White chocolate contains everything milk chocolate can do except chocolate wine. Chocolate lovers argue whether white chocolate is really chocolate. Until 2002, the US Food and Drug Administration thought it was a kind of candy, not chocolate, because it did not contain chocolate wine. Hershey Food Company and Chocolate Manufacturers Association * * * proposed to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to add an identity standard for white chocolate. Because FDA calls it white chocolate instead of candy, some experts, such as Williams, accept white chocolate as chocolate. Williams said that among the three categories, the FDA also recognizes several grades. These include chocolate without sugar or sugar, which can be as high as 99% chocolate wine; Bitter and bittersweet; Semi-sweet; And black milk chocolate. The type of chocolate depends on the composition and percentage of cocoa, as well as the source and production method of cocoa beans.
Chocolate is good for health and heart.
Several recent studies have examined the possible effects of chocolate on heart health. Cocoa beans are rich in plant nutrients as antioxidants and provide additional benefits. In addition, according to the research of Chen Health College of Harvard University, cocoa beans are rich in iron, copper, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus. Dark chocolate contains two to three times as much flavanol as milk chocolate, because the cocoa concentrate in milk chocolate is diluted by milk, and there may be more sugar.
However, most studies have found that there is a certain correlation between chocolate intake and reducing the risk of heart disease, and the quantity and types of chocolate need further study. A meta-analysis of the effects of chocolate on coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes, published in the Journal of Nutrition in 20 17, concluded that moderate intake of chocolate is the most beneficial. Researchers have found that people who eat chocolate more than three times a week have little benefit in reducing heart disease or stroke. The protective effect of diabetes appears twice a week, but if people eat it more than six times a week, this effect will disappear.
On the other hand, a large-scale study found that more than 150000 American male veterans had no coronary heart disease at the beginning of the study. It is suggested that eating an ounce of chocolate at least five times a week can help prevent events related to coronary artery disease, such as heart attack and heart failure.
Chocolate also helps prevent atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that increases the risk of heart failure and stroke. A study published in Heart magazine in 20 17 found that adults who eat chocolate at least once a month are less likely to suffer from atrial fibrillation than those who never or rarely eat chocolate 10% to 20%.
Brain-friendly food
Chocolate may be good for the brain. Some studies focus on the ability of chocolate to improve cognitive function. 20 16 A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease found that eating chocolate may reduce the risk of cognitive decline in the elderly. This study surveyed nearly 400 Portuguese citizens over the age of 65 and found that those who eat moderate amounts of chocolate-an average of one chocolate snack per week; This study did not distinguish between milk and dark chocolate-it reduced the risk of cognitive decline by 40% in two years. Those who eat more chocolate, or those who consume more caffeine, have less cognitive benefits.
Food in a good mood
Chocolate usually has a positive effect on mood, but the reason why it makes some people feel good is debatable. According to the journal Science of Dartmouth University, chocolate contains brain substances similar to marijuana, such as anadamine, and substances similar to amphetamine, such as tyramine and phenylethylamine. However, the concentration of these substances is too low to produce antidepressant effect.
According to an article in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 20 13, chocolate may interact with neurotransmitter systems, which contribute to appetite, reward and emotional regulation, such as dopamine, serotonin and endorphins. However, it is worth noting that this effect may be more related to the taste and smell of chocolate than its chemical effect.
20 10 A study published in Archives of Internal Medicine found that there is a link between depression and chocolate consumption. The results showed that people who scored high on the depression screening test consumed more chocolate than those who were not considered depressed. However, the study points out that this is only a connection and cannot explain the reason. Because the subjects were not followed for a long time, the researchers didn't know whether eating chocolate would improve or amplify the sad mood. There are many possibilities-from the idea of using chocolate as a natural prozac, chocolate may have some effect on promoting depression.
Health risks Eating chocolate is the same as many foods. Eating chocolate in moderation is the healthiest. The added sugar and fat in chocolate make it high in calories, which may lead to weight gain. In addition, many protective effects that chocolate may provide may be reduced due to excessive consumption.
Historians of chocolate have been arguing about the time when people use and consume cocoa beans. The history of chocolate can be traced back to at least 2,000 years ago, while the historian Sophie and Michael Coe, the author of "The True History of Chocolate" (20 13), think that chocolate may be traced back to 4,000 years ago. The word chocolate can be traced back to the Aztec word "xocoatl", which is the name of a bitter drink made from cocoa beans. Before the Spanish conquerors came to Central America, chocolate was consumed in this way. According to Smithsonian Magazine, before Columbus, cocoa beans were used as money in Latin American society. Maya and Aztecs believed that beans had mysterious properties and used them in important ceremonies. After the arrival of the Spanish, sweet chocolate began to appear. Legend has it that Montezuma, the Aztec king, gave Hernando Cortes the conqueror a bitter chocolate drink, which he said was disgusting. But people in Cortes added sucrose and honey to chocolate and brought it back to Spain, where it quickly became popular.
Throughout the18th century, chocolate was a fashionable drink for the rich in Europe. The industrial revolution enabled chocolate to be produced on a large scale and brought this delicious taste to the public. The popularization of cocoa trees promoted the development of cocoa plantations.
Who enslaved most of the plantations. Adrianna Morganelli's chocolate publishing company (2005) claims that Spanish colonists initially forced Central Americans to grow cocoa. When aborigines began to die in large numbers from diseases brought by Europeans, enslaved Africans were brought here to make up for the shortage of labor. In addition to sugar cane, indigo and other crops, enslaved Africans also planted, maintained and harvested cocoa trees in the Caribbean, Central America and South America to meet the new taste of chocolate in Europe. 18 15,
According to Cornell University, the Dutch physicist Konrad van Holden tried to remove different amounts of cocoa butter from chocolate wine. This led to the production of cocoa powder and solid chocolate.
According to the Bristol Museum, Fry's, a British chocolate company in Bristol, created the first mass-produced chocolate bar at 1847, when Joseph Fry added extra cocoa butter to Van Gauteng's chocolate and turned it into a plastic paste. With the help of Henry Nestle, milk chocolate was soon invented, and later he established a large food company named after him. Linde and Cadbury, the major chocolate brands in Europe, also started from19th century. Rudolf Linde invented the conch machine to give chocolate a soft texture.
A large amount of chocolate consumption hit the United States at the end of 19, when Milton Hershey began to sell caramel coated with chocolate. Then, he developed the formula of milk chocolate himself, purchased the equipment of chocolate factory, and introduced mass-produced chocolate bars and chocolates.