Chocolate consists mainly of 'cocoa mass' to which sugars, cocoa butter, lecithins, hazelnuts and others are added.

The Cocoa mass (Cocoa paste) is the first raw product obtained from the complex processing of cocoa, after the mixing process

To the taste, the cocoa mass is very bitter and to the aspect it is greasy.Two fundamental reasons for which we will need subsequent work of a certain complexity.

It is used in the food field as the first ingredient in the preparation of chocolate, biscuits, cakes and more.

This is an enlarged cocoa bean:

Let's summarize the cocoa processing:

1 - Collection of cocoa pods. Still done by hand, as not to damage the trees.

2 - The cocoa pods are peeled and the beans dried in the sun for 8 days in order to reach fermentation.

3 - Drying of the beans

Mixing

4 - Picking, Cleaning and Roasting the beans

5 - Fanning the beans with industrial machinery

Cocoa mass

6 - Grinding the beans with a milling machine

7 - Refining the beans with roll refiners

At this point the cocoa butter can be separated

8 - Rolling process that creates heat for melting the cocoa mass. 

From this point on, every manufacturer can add any product to personalize the chocolate. For example liqueurs, spices, etc.

The most relevant studies on this ingredient have been selected with a summary of their contents:

Cocoa mass studies

As for the positive properties, from a health point of view, cocoa beans contain a significant amount of antioxidants: flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, catechins, epicatechins and in particular a phytosterol, beta-sitosterol to which are attributed protective actions on the development of cancer.

This study warns about the risk of high chocolate intake, which is positively associated with the risk of prostate cancer as total, advanced, localized and low-grade disease. However, the authors also pointed out that although high intake of antioxidants from supplements was associated with an increased risk for all prostate cancer subgroups except fatal cancer, this finding must be interpreted with caution because of the possibility of reverse causality (1). Which, if we interpret the study correctly, means that small amounts of cocoa have anti-inflammatory activity in our bodies, whereas excessive amounts may cause an adverse effect.

References____________________________________________________________________

(1) Russnes KM, Möller E, Wilson KM, Carlsen M, Blomhoff R, Smeland S, Adami HO, Grönberg H, Mucci LA, Bälter K. Total antioxidant intake and prostate cancer in the Cancer of the Prostate in Sweden (CAPS) study. A case control study. BMC Cancer. 2016 Jul 11;16:438. doi: 10.1186/s12885-016-2486-8.

Abstract. Background: The total intake of dietary antioxidants may reduce prostate cancer risk but available data are sparse and the possible role of supplements unclear. We investigated the potential association between total and dietary antioxidant intake and prostate cancer in a Swedish population....Conclusions: Total antioxidant intake from diet was not associated with prostate cancer risk. Supplement use may be associated with greater risk of disease.