New method replaces sugar to make chocolates healthier, eco-friendly

Problem with conventional chocolate production

The conventional chocolate-making process focuses primarily on the cocoa beans, leaving a substantial portion of the cocoa fruit unused.

This not only leads to significant waste but also contributes to the environmental impact of chocolate production, which is known to be resource-intensive and associated with high greenhouse gas emissions.

The ETH researchers sought to tackle these issues by developing a method that incorporates the entire cocoa pod, including the husk, into the chocolate-making process.

ETH’s solution is cocoa-fruit chocolate

The husk, traditionally discarded or used as fuel or compost, is rich in fiber and can be processed into a powder that acts as a natural sweetener.

The team’s innovative recipe involves mixing this husk powder with some of the cocoa pulp to create a sweet jelly, which effectively replaces the granulated sugar typically added to chocolate.

This “cocoa-fruit chocolate” not only boasts a higher fiber content and lower saturated fat compared to traditional chocolate but also promises to reduce land use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with cocoa farming.

“Our process uses solely cocoa pod components in the chocolate,” explained Kim Mishra, the lead author of the study.

“It also has comparable sweet taste as traditional chocolate while offering improved nutritional value with higher fiber and reduced saturated fatty acid content.”

Multiple benefits

A comprehensive life cycle assessment conducted by the researchers indicates that large-scale production of this new chocolate could significantly reduce land use and global warming potential compared to the production of average European dark chocolate.

This is primarily due to the reduced need for cocoa beans and the utilization of the husk, which would otherwise go to waste.

The potential benefits of this innovation extend beyond environmental sustainability. Small-scale farmers, who often struggle to make a living from cocoa farming, could benefit from this new method by diversifying their product offerings.

By selling not only the cocoa beans but also the newly developed cocoa jelly powder, they could increase their income and improve their livelihoods.

Future of cocoa-fruit chocolate

While the lab-based chocolate has been deemed “appealing and comparable in terms of flavor,” it will be some time before it reaches consumers.

The researchers are now working on scaling up the production process and adapting the entire value chain, starting with the cocoa farmers, who will need drying facilities to process the husk.

“There is an urgent need to transform the cocoa value chain addressing the nutritional and environmental problems while respecting the socio-economic boundary conditions,” commented the study.

ETH has filed a patent for the recipe for cocoa fruit chocolate, indicating the researchers’ confidence in the potential of this innovation to transform the chocolate industry.