Study On The Quality Standard Of Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder is the powder processed from the seeds of TheobromaSterculiaceae plant the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao Linn.), native to thetropical rainforests of South America, the Amazon River region. Mainlydistributed in Indonesia, Ghana, Southeast Asia, West Africa and othernarrow areas within10°latitude north and south of the equator, withantioxidant, immune regulation, regulating blood sugar levels, lowerplasma cholesterol, anti-caries, aid digestion and other physiologicalfunctions. Now it widely used in chocolate, pastries, ice cream, beveragesand other food industry. Modern research shows that the chemicalcomposition of cocoa powder containing alkaloids, polyphenols, aminoacids, high-calorie fat, protein and dietary fiber, its main physiologicalactive ingredient includes polyphenols and alkaloids. At present, there isno quality standards related research of the main active ingredient incocoa powder, so this topic conducts systematic research of cocoa powder,develop its draft of quality standards, establish HPLC fingerprint ofdifferent batches of cocoa powder, to provide a scientific basis for thescientific evaluation and effective control of the quality of cocoa powder.In order to complete rapid analysis and identification forcharacteristic components of cocoa powder, this topic does qualitativeidentification of polyphenols and alkaloids in cocoa powder by TLCidentification method. Inspected TLC conditions of the extraction solvent, extraction method and expand system, preferred the best thin layerchromatographic conditions for TLC identification of cocoa powder,established the method of qualitative identification of the cocoa powdercharacteristic ingredients.The identification method characteristic spotswere clear, simple and quick, good reproducibility and reliable results.In order to examine the content of the characteristic components ofthe cocoa powder, this topic using high performance liquidchromatography (HPLC), taking epicatechin as an index component todetermine the content of polyphenolic components in cocoa powder,taking theobromine and caffeine as the index component to determine thecontent of alkaloids in cocoa powder. Inspected the test solutionpreparation and chromatographic conditions,detemined the method of thedetermination of cocoa powder.The methodological study results showedthat the method is accurate and reliable, with good reproducibility, and itcould lay the data foundation for the quality control of cocoa powder.For comprehensive and systematic evaluation of the quality of cocoapowder, this topic conducted a preliminary study of HPLC fingerprints on10batches of cocoa powder sample. Containing5Total peakchromatogram,taking epicatechin (5Sother peaks) as a reference peak toanalyze and compare to other peaks, calculating the similarity of thecharacteristic peaks in each batch of cocoa powder samples byFingerprint similarity calculation software. The results showed that thesimilarity of each characteristic peaks were in compliance with the basicrequirements of the similarity evaluation, with a systematic,comprehensive and characteristic features of this method to establish thecocoa powder fingerprints, it could provide a scientific reference for acomprehensive evaluation of the quality of cocoa powder in the overall,and provide a scientific basis for the improvement of the quality of cocoapowder evaluation system. The subject conducted a systematic study of items such as the cocoapowder traits, TLC, content determination and fingerprint, pressed cocoapowder inspection of check items according to Pharmacopoeia records,and developed draft quality standards for cocoa powder.To provide areference to ensure the quality of the cocoa powder is stable andcontrollable,and to guarantee the heclth benefits and food value of cocoapowder.Provided quality assurance for better application of cocoapowder.