Chocolate is Everything about chocolate: useful properties, composition and types

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Chocolate appeared more than three thousand years ago. It originated on the territory of modern Mexico, in the tribes of the Indians, who existed long before the appearance of the Mayan tribes and knew everything about chocolate. The recipe was kept strictly secret on pain of death. And only when the conquistadors invaded the tribal territories and defeated the Mayan civilization, they were able to recognize it, and then killed all the priests who owned it.

This is how the Europeans learned about this drink. From the moment of its discovery until the 19th century, the delicacy was consumed exclusively in liquid form. And it could not be afforded by everyone who wanted to. It could only be used by the aristocratic strata of the population. And only a couple of centuries ago, one Swiss found a way to transform a liquid drink from cocoa beans into a solid mass. This is how everyone's favorite delicacy appeared, which has survived to this day.

Definitions

What is chocolate? There are several meanings of this word. Let's take a look at them.

- Chocolate is a bitter or sweet drink made from grated bars. The taste depends on which one is used for cooking.

- Chocolate is everyone's favorite sweet (candy). She istransforms from a liquid state to a solid mass.

- Chocolate is a bitter drink made directly from cocoa beans. This drink recipe does not use sugar.

Everything about chocolate: composition and benefits

The classification of everyone's favorite delicacy is much wider than we used to think. Black, white, milk - this is not all the types in which chocolate is produced.

In its composition, which depends on the level of cocoa, it can be bitter, milky, dessert.

Bitter contains more than half of cocoa. Such chocolate is considered the most useful. After all, it contains a minimum of sugar and does not have any additional additives, except for nuts in some cases. It is also called dark chocolate. Let's talk now about its properties.

Benefits of black treats

Now consider the benefits of dark chocolate:

- Eating the black delicacy is believed to slow down the aging process, thanks to the high amount of cocoa butter in its composition, which contains many antioxidants.

- Helps to improve the tone of the body. After all, it is not for nothing that it is commonly believed that chocolate is the “hormone of joy”. Thanks to the caffeine in its composition, it has a stimulating effect on the entire body, it perfectly improves mood.

- Due to the content of polyphenols, dark chocolate is very good for the heart muscle. Also, this sweetness increases endurance and performance.

- Oddly enough, but it is bitter chocolate that can burn fat. Onlyit must be consumed in moderation. Light carbohydrates, which are present in the black delicacy, are quickly broken down and do not linger in the body.

Dessert contains only a third of cocoa. Such chocolate comes with fillings and various other impurities.

Milky

What is milk chocolate? In its composition, it has no more than a third of cocoa, and it is also dominated by milk powder. Such a delicacy began to be produced to reduce the cost of chocolate in general, since cocoa butter was a very expensive ingredient.

And the less it was used to make tiles, the less it cost. Each manufacturer has its own recipe for the production of milk chocolate. According to the research, it was found out that the most delicious is made in the west of Europe.

Milk chocolate: useful properties, composition

Treatment with such sweetness is not carried out in medical institutions. But in folk medicine, chocolate is used. For example, this delicacy helps with depression due to the fact that it contains magnesium.

Eating high-quality chocolate in moderation can increase the efficiency and endurance of the body, strengthen the heart muscle. It has a beneficial effect on the condition of the skin, helps in digestion, improves kidney function.

Not only dark chocolate has beneficial properties, but natural milk chocolate without any additives in moderation can have a beneficial effect on your body. Thanks to the vitamins that are part oftreats, its regular use can lead to the prevention of malignant tumors. High-quality milk chocolate has a pleasant aroma, it is uniform in color without any spots. It should melt on the tongue, and make sure there are no lumps or impurities.

White

Now we will tell you almost everything about white chocolate. Also, do not forget about this type of delicacy. It contains cocoa butter, but the percentage of the latter is very small. White chocolate appeared at the beginning of the last century. Nestlé is the first company to develop its recipe and start mass production. Vanilla flavor gives a special aroma to the white delicacy. There are still discussions about how harmful such a product is. After all, soy lecithin and a large number of flavors are often added to its composition. But one should not be too categorical, arguing that there is nothing useful in white.

For example, it contains vitamins that are not found in milk and black forms: vitamin K, which is useful for the efficient functioning of the kidneys. Since this chocolate does not contain cocoa powder, therefore, there is no caffeine. Therefore, it can be safely given to children. But it is worth remembering that there is much more sugar in such a product than in other varieties of sweets. And this threatens children's teeth with caries. Recently, white chocolate has been used in cosmetology. It is used to make masks for dry and chapped skin.

Green

Not so long ago, green chocolate appeared on the sweets market. Many skeptics, of course, will say that today there are a lot of dyes and nothing is impossible. But here they are wrong. The secret to green chocolate is simple. In the preparation of an ordinary dark delicacy, green tea powder, which is called "matcha", or green algae powder is added. It all depends on the country of origin.

In Spain, this chocolate was created specifically for losing weight people and added the same algae to its composition. Well, the Japanese, of course, prefer green with the addition of tea powder. The taste of such a delicacy is bitter with refreshing notes. Gourmets will be able to appreciate this innovation with dignity. Many people can try to make such chocolate at home. The main thing is that the ingredients for its preparation are of high quality.

Processing method. Species

Chocolate is classified by processing method. It can be porous, dessert or ordinary. The difference between the second third method of processing the mass is in its grinding. Dessert chocolate is processed in a coffee machine, which gives it an unusual aroma. The porous one is made from the dessert mass by filling it with carbon dioxide.

There are chocolates with different additives, without additives. They also produce bars with filling.

Chocolate without additives is ordinary black, bitter.

Treats with additives are distinguished by their variety. Their composition may include a different amount of flavorings, sweeteners. They can also add raisins, nuts, sesame seeds, jelly and more.

In chocolate with fillingoften add various sweet pastes or sweets. In such tiles, the filling is 50% of the total mass.

The shape of chocolate is also different. It can be bars, tiles or different figures.

Organic and high fructose

There is also fructose and organic chocolate.

For the production of the latter, cocoa beans grown in an ecologically clean area are used. Also, all the ingredients that are used for its preparation undergo strict quality control. For the first time such chocolate appeared at the end of the last century in Europe. Another secret of this delicacy is the roasting of cocoa beans. They are fried at a temperature not exceeding 45 degrees. This allows you to save the beneficial properties of the grains.

Such chocolate, of course, is much more expensive than the one we are used to. But it is much more useful than even black. But do not forget that its taste is somewhat different from what we are used to. If you decide to buy such chocolate, pay attention to the label. The composition of such a product cannot include dyes, flavors and any GMO components. Be sure to pay attention to the quality mark on the packaging of organic.

Fructose-based chocolate is mainly consumed by people with diabetes, as they have no other choice.

Conclusion

Now you know what chocolate is, we have considered its beneficial properties. We hope you found this information interesting.