Does raw cacao contain caffeine?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “caffeine in cacao vs coffee“
Does raw cacao contain caffeine?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “caffeine in cacao vs coffee“
There is a persistent urban legend that Chocolate contains caffeine. It would seem that this rumor is based primarily on a confusion between two similar alkaloids: caffeine and Theobromine. Theobromine is the active ingredient in Chocolate and it occurs only in Cacao. The two stimulants are related and have a similar structures, but are very different chemicals with different properties, effects and origins. There are of course, some Chocolate products that have added caffeine, but it does not occur naturally in Chocolate.
Yes and in varying amounts depending on the season of harvesting. This amount is sometimes significant, sometimes not.
Does raw cacao contain caffeine?
Yes, although not a lot. The main stimulant drug in cacao is theobromine (which, despite its name, contains no bromine). Like caffeine, theobromine is a xanthine alkaloid, differing from its more well-known chemical cousin by missing a methyl (CH3) group, and, in fact, caffeine in the body is partially metabolized to theobromine.
That said, there is some caffeine in cacao beans (see, for example, J. Kim, et al., “Cocoa Phytochemicals: Recent Advances in Molecular Mechanisms on Health”, Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition , Volume 54, 2014 – Issue 11, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2011.641041? ).
A cup of supermarket dried cocoa powder made from the most widely-grown variety contains 198 mg of caffeine (but 1,769 mg of theobromine), though the caffeine content varies widely with the variety.
Perhaps more relevant is the caffeine content of things made with cacao beans. A cup of hot chocolate contains between 7 mg and 13 mg of caffeine, depending on how much cocoa powder is in the preparation. A Hershey’s Milk Chocolate candy bar (1.5 ounces) comes in at about 9 mg while its dark chocolate sibling is about 31 mg. By comparison, a cup of brewed coffee contains about 95 mg of caffeine.
Some Cacao does not contain caffeine. Some chocolate, which contains cacao has caffeine added to it.
All cacao has Theobromine in it. It is a stimulant but does not affect your central nervous system like caffeine. It does not affect smooth muscle tissue. It is a diuretic but breaks down twice as slow as caffeine so it is non-addictive.
The cacao varieties that has caffeine naturally occurring is typically 1/50th the caffeine of a cup of coffee. It would take 50 cups of coffee to equal the same amount of caffeine in a cup of chocolate.
Contrary to popular opinion, cacao is a poor source of caffeine. A typical sample of raw chocolate nibs or cacao beans will yield anywhere from zero caffeine to 1,000 parts per million of caffeine (less than 1/20th of the caffeine present in coffee).
Victor Allen’s
No. cacao /chocolate doesn’t contain caffeine naturally, it contains a very similar looking compound called theobromine! Caffeine and theobromine are both alkaloids. Cacao beans usually contain about 1% theobromine. …
Cacao contains theobromine, an alkaloid in the methylxanthine class of compounds, which also contain caffeine , mateine, and more. …
It’s true that cacao has numerous health benefits, and some believe these are even more potent when consumed “raw.” For example, in its unroasted state, cacao contains both caffeine and theobromine, which are both stimulants.