From Futurity:
Scientists have discovered a gene involved in determining the melting
point of cocoa butter, a critical attribute of the substance widely
used in foods and pharmaceuticals.
The finding could lead to new and improved products, say researchers.
The finding by plant geneticists could also lead to new varieties of
the cocoa plant that could extend the climate and soil-nutrient range
for growing the crop and increase the value of its yield, they say,
providing a boost to farmers’ incomes in the cocoa-growing regions of
the world.
Cacao, Theobroma cacao L., is an understory tropical tree
domesticated in the Amazon basin and today widely cultivated in West
Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia.
Around the world, more than five million cocoa farmers—and more than
40 million people total—depend on cocoa for their livelihood, according
to the World Cocoa Foundation, which puts annual cocoa production
worldwide at 3.8 million tons, valued at $11.8 billion.
Cacao pods, each containing around 40 seeds, are harvested
approximately 20 weeks after pollination. The seeds contain about 50
percent total lipids (cocoa butter), which provide a main raw ingredient
for chocolate manufacturing as well as ingredients for pharmaceutical
and cosmetic products.
New kinds of chocolate?
Cocoa butter with altered melting points may find new uses in
specialty chocolates, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals, says lead
researcher Mark Guiltinan, professor of plant molecular biology at Penn
State.
For example, a chocolate with a higher or lower melting point would
be useful for production of chocolate with specific textures and
specialty applications.
“The ‘snap’ and ‘melt’ of chocolate are two very important textural
features that determine the appeal of chocolate to consumers, and having
new varieties of the cocoa plant that produce butter with different
melting points would be a valuable resource to control those
characteristics,” Guiltinan explains....MORE
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