BY: CLEMENTINE ADKINS

Chemistry of Chocolate

Making chocolate is very labor intensive. Cacao beans are harvested by hand, then they are fermented and dried before being sold to chocolate makers.

The beauty of roasting is the chemical cascade of reactions that occur between the amino acids formed in fermentation and the sugars.

After roasted, the brittle cacao shells are cracked to remove the seeds. The nibs are crushed and heated into chocolate liquor, and the thick paste is pressed to extract the cocoa butter from the nibs.

Polymorphism is another arrangement of molecules to make a solid for of chocolate.

Although loved for its taste, chocolate has also been known for its health benefits.

The Aztecs and Mayans used it to treat skin infections and a many other illnesses.

Kept in its liquid state, the chocolate is shipped to many different manufacturers.

Works Cited

Baxter, Roberta. "How Sweet It Is!" ChemMatters Dec. 1999: n. pag. Print.

"The Chemistry of Chocolate." A Quimica Das Coisas. Science Office, 2011. Web. 5 Apr. 2013. <http://www.aquimicadascoisas.org/en/?episodio=the-chemistry-of-chocolate>.

"The Sweet Science of Chocolate Educator Guide." Quest. KQUED, 2009. Web. 5 Apr. 2013. <http://science.kqed.org/quest/files/imp/310b_SweetScienceofChocolate.pdf>.