New discoveries in chocolate research
In the history of nearly 500 years, no food has conquered all kinds of people in every corner of the world so quickly and decisively as chocolate. "You can't refuse chocolate any more than you can refuse love", a beautiful heroine in a movie proudly declared to the world. In that movie, chocolate is described as a magical candy that can change fate. If you suspect that this magic is pure fiction, a scientific paper in Nature, a famous British magazine, may be more convincing.
In the journal Nature published at the end of August 2003, a research team composed of Italian and British scientists reported their research results: moderate consumption of dark chocolate (chocolate without cream, also known as bitter chocolate) can increase antioxidant substances in the blood and prevent heart disease. The researcher recruited 12 healthy volunteers, including 7 females and 5 males, with an average age of 32.2 years and an average weight of 65.8 kg. They are all non-smokers, with normal blood lipid levels, and did not use any drugs or various vitamin products during the experiment. 12 volunteers were divided into three groups. One group only ate100g dark chocolate, one group ate 200g cream chocolate (white chocolate), and the other group ate100g dark chocolate and 200ml whole milk. After 1 hour, the total antioxidant capacity of plasma was detected. The results showed that the total antioxidant capacity of plasma was improved by nearly 20% in the group of eating100g dark chocolate. However, there was no significant change in plasma total antioxidant capacity in milk or milk chocolate group. Researchers believe that flavonoids in chocolate, especially epicatechin, are the main reasons for the antioxidant capacity of chocolate.
The sweet legend of chocolate
The raw material of chocolate originally came from Latin America, where the tropical rain forest was covered with lush wild cocoa trees and the trees were covered with fruit cocoa beans. After several days of fermentation, these beans are washed, dried, baked and crushed to remove the shell and germ, leaving endosperm, which is used or pressed out of cocoa butter, and finally ground into fine powder, which is cocoa powder; Heat cocoa powder to dissolve, and add sugar, milk powder (full fat or defatted), emulsifier, etc. , stirring and mixing, grinding, chain thinning and other processing techniques to obtain liquid chocolate, and then adjusting temperature, setting and cooling to obtain chocolate.
More than 3000 years ago, Indians in Latin America began to make drinks from cocoa beans. After Columbus discovered America, he first brought cocoa beans back to Spain in 1502. Since then, European colonists have taken great interest in cocoa while invading and plundering Latin America. 15 16, Fernand gals, commander-in-chief of the Spanish colonial army, said in a report to the king of Spain: "There is a kind of cocoa bean produced in a vast area of Mexico. Anyone who drinks this drink is enough to make people energetic during the whole day's March. " He also gave the king a box of refined cocoa powder. The king held a grand banquet specially for tasting cocoa, but all the participants agreed that this "bitter water" was hard to swallow.
15 19, another Spanish adventurer, Cortes, drank a bitter drink called "Xocoatyl" in the palace of the Aztec Indian ruler, Montezumi, Mexico, which was a drink mixed with cocoa beans, herbs, spices and corn. In Hindi, "Xoco" is foam and "Atyl" is water. The English name of Chocolate evolved from this. Later, Cortes brought this drink back to Spain, and the Spanish found it delicious with sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. This is the first cocoa beverage formula in Europe. The Spanish cherish this formula very much and keep it a secret for nearly a hundred years. It was not until 1606 that Italian Kaledi brought the secret recipe of making chocolate drinks to Italy, and then spread it to France and Britain. By the middle of17th century, chocolate drinks were quite popular in France and Britain, but the price was quite expensive, and only the rich could afford them.
1765, Dr. Dorsey Baker of Massachusetts in North America established the first factory to produce chocolate powder from cocoa beans. 18 19, 23-year-old Swiss Cahierre made the first chocolate candy. Since then, chocolate is no longer just a drink, but also a candy and snack. 1828, Dutch von Horten removed cocoa butter from cocoa pulp and made instant cocoa powder for the first time. At the same time, making chocolate with cocoa powder and cocoa butter is much better than using cocoa beans directly. Horton's invention completely changed the face of cocoa and chocolate industry. Today, Horton's method is still used. From 65438 to 0847, Frye & Sons Company in England added sugar and cocoa butter to cocoa powder, and molded it into chocolate blocks with molds to make the chocolate candy we eat today. Another breakthrough occurred in 1876, when daniel peter of Switzerland added milk to chocolate to make solid milk chocolate for the first time, which became the embryonic form of modern chocolate.
Pornographic culture of chocolate
Chocolate has been the best dessert in the world since it came out, especially in Europe and America. No matter men, women and children, there are countless diners. What makes many diners flock to it?
The first is the unique flavor of chocolate. Cocoa beans will produce rich and unique fragrance after fermentation, drying and baking, which is the theme of chocolate. Cocoa contains theobromine and caffeine, which brings pleasant bitterness. Tannin in cocoa has a faint astringency, and cocoa contains a small amount of organic acids. Cocoa butter can produce a fat and smooth taste. But it can be bitter, astringent and sour, and cocoa butter is slippery. With sugar or milk powder, cream, malt, lecithin, vanillin and other auxiliary materials, after exquisite processing technology, chocolate not only maintains the unique taste of cocoa, but also is more harmonious, pleasant and delicious. A piece of refined chocolate, delicate and smooth, leaves fragrance between lips and teeth, which makes people memorable.
Chocolate is not only delicious, but also popular because it represents a special culture. In foreign countries, chocolate is called "love chocolate", and matching roses is the best gift for Valentine's Day. On festive days and festivals, it is a warm feeling to send a beautiful chocolate to friends and relatives. This deep affection embodies people's taste and true meaning.
Just as people in China have tea culture, foreigners also have their chocolate culture. On the streets of European cities, you will see a chocolate house within a few steps. The owner wears traditional clothes and makes all kinds of chocolates and chocolate drinks with an ancient grinder. On the Rhine River in Cologne, Germany, there is also the only chocolate museum in the world-Meikexin Museum. Inside, you can not only learn more about the history and production of chocolate, but also taste the fresh chocolate made by the small chocolate processing machine in the museum. The French also love chocolate, and there are many old shops specializing in handmade chocolate in Paris and Lyon. Paris, the city of food, plays a leading role in the development of chocolate as much as its achievements in the food field. At present, the per capita consumption of chocolate in Switzerland ranks first in the world, and each person eats 10 kg of chocolate every year. Even in Japan, the average person eats 1 kg of chocolate every year. At present, China's chocolate production capacity exceeds 654.38+10,000 tons, but the actual output is less than 60,000 tons, and the per capita annual consumption is less than 50 grams, which is less than 654.38+0% of the average consumption level of western countries.
Sweet healthy food
Chocolate is a delicious food, but it easily causes many people's fears. For a long time in the past, chocolate was listed as the chief culprit of obesity, hypertension and heart disease because of its high fat and calories. In fact, this is a complete misunderstanding of chocolate.
The main ingredients of chocolate are fat and sugar. Eating too much will definitely make people fat. But chocolate is not the main cause of obesity. Switzerland is the country that consumes the most chocolate. Everyone eats 10 kg of chocolate every year, but the obesity rate is one of the lowest in the world.
Chocolate contains so much fat, can it cause blood vessel blockage and cause heart disease? 60% of the fat in chocolate is saturated fat. When you eat chocolate, you really swallow them all, but it doesn't do much harm. A study by Harvard University found that women who eat chocolate three or four times a week have a lower risk of heart disease than women who seldom eat chocolate. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University conducted an experiment in which 42 healthy men ate 46 grams of milk chocolate every day. After 20 days, it was found that chocolate had no effect on blood total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels, but it could significantly increase the level of high-density lipoprotein beneficial to cardiovascular system.
Is the sugar contained in chocolate harmful to human body? Eating too much is really harmful, but the sugar index in chocolate that can raise people's blood pressure is very low, which is similar to that contained in oatmeal. What about caffeine in chocolate? A whole piece of dark chocolate contains 10 to 30mg of caffeine, while a cup of coffee contains 100 mg of caffeine.
In people's daily diet, the human body needs a large number of macro nutrients in food, namely protein, fat and carbohydrates, which provide energy sources for the human body and keep the normal work among various tissues of the body. According to the rdi of China residents, the recommended intake of macro nutrients per person per day is: protein is 10% of the total energy, 15%, and about 75g and 90g fat account for 20% to 30% of the total energy; Carbohydrate accounts for 55% to 65% of the total energy, and at least 50 grams should be ingested every day; A 44g piece of dark chocolate contains protein1.85g, fat1.3g, and carbohydrate 27.76g. In addition, among the 20 macroelements accounting for 4% and 5% of human body weight, the daily requirements of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and sodium are all at100. A 44-gram piece of dark chocolate contains 14.08 mg of calcium, 58.08 mg of phosphorus, 50.6 mg of magnesium, 160.60 mg of potassium and 4.84 mg of sodium, so chocolate can supplement people's daily needs for various nutrients.
Cocoa powder used to make chocolate contains an antioxidant called flavanol, which is considered to have anti-heart disease and anti-cancer effects on human body. Although this substance exists in red wine, fruits, vegetables and tea, the latest research results of scientists show that this antioxidant contained in dark chocolate is more effective. For example, the antioxidant content of dark chocolate is three times that of cream chocolate and four times that of a cup of black tea. The darker the chocolate color, the more cocoa powder it contains and the higher the antioxidant content. Of course, it has the best effect, but it tastes a little bitter.
Although chocolate has such a magical effect, "water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it". Excessive consumption also has certain adverse effects on health. Therefore, doctors will not encourage people to eat more chocolate for health reasons.