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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Little Rock, Arkansas » Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #180052
Title: PROCYANIDIN (PC) CONTENT AND TOTAL ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY (TAC) OF CHOCOLATE AND COCOA PRODUCTS

Author
item GU, LIWEI - ACNC/UAMS
item WU, XIANLI - ACNC/UAMS
item OU, BOXIN - BRUNSWICK LABS
item HARNLY, JIM - USDA
item Prior, Ronald

Submitted to: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/15/2005
Publication Date: 3/4/2005
Citation: Gu, L., Wu, X., Ou, B., Harnly, J., Prior, R.L. 2005. Procyanidin (pc) content and total antioxidant capacity (tac) of chocolate and cocoa products. The FASEB Journal. 19(5):A1032.

Interpretive Summary: In this study we simply measure the antioxidant capacity of chocolate and coco products. This study is important because it has been reported that these products may provide health benefits due to their high contents of antioxidants.

Technical Abstract: Commercially available chocolate and cocoa samples from 9 major manufacturers and the National Institute of Standards and Technology were analyzed blinded for total antioxidant capacity (TAC) [lipophilic + hydrophilic, umole Trolox Equivalents (TE/g] (ORAC fl) and procyanidins (PC) (monomers through polymers, mg/g). TAC (umole TE/g) were: 826 plus/minus 103; 402 plus/minus 6; 468 plus/minus 66; 227 plus/minus 74; 202 plus/minus 49; and 80 plus/minus 10 and PCs (mg/g) were: 40.8 plus/minus 8.3; 89 plus/minus 2.7; 22.3 plus/minus 2.9; 12.9 plus/minus 5.1; 12.3 plus/minus 5.1; 12.3 plus/minus 3.4; and 2.7 plus/minus 0.5 for natural cocoa powders (n=3), Alkalinized (i.e. Dutched) cocoa (n=2), Unsweetened baking chocolates, Dark chocolates (n=5), Semi-sweet chocolate baking chips (n=3), and Milk chocolates (n=3), respectively. Natural cocoa powders contained the highest and milk-chocolates, which contain the least amount of cocoa solids, had the lowest levels of TAC and PCs. One reference serving (5-40g, depending upon the type of product) provides 2030-6545 umole TE of TAC and 45-517 mg of PCs, which exceeds the amount from a reference serving of the majority of foods consumed in America. The monomers through timers, which are thought to be directly bioavailable, contributed 27-31% of the total PCs in most chocolates and cocoas. Hydrophilic antioxidant capacity contributed >90% of TAC in all products. The correlation coefficient between TAC and PCs was 0l92, indicating PCs are the dominant antioxidants in chocolates.