Effect of high-voltage electrical discharge treatment on multi-element content in cocoa shell and chocolates with cocoa shell

Cocoa shell is rich in bioactive components, but also contains significant amounts of micro and macro elements, but also toxic elements. In this study, we examined the contents of different elements in cocoa shell, cocoa mass and the effect of high voltage electrical discharge (HVED) on the contents of these elements in the cocoa shell. Also, dark and milk chocolates were produced with different contents of untreated and HVED treated cocoa shell for which was also conducted ICP-MS analysis of these elements. HVED treatment caused a decrease in potassium, cadmium, uranium, cobalt, nickel, iron, molybdenum, chromium, manganese and copper content. The analysis also showed that the contents of some elements were higher after HVED treatment, and the largest increase was observed for calcium. All chocolates produced with treated and untreated cocoa shells had the contents of toxic elements in a range already reported in the literature. After the addition of cocoa shell in chocolate, contents of iron and cobalt were higher than reported in the literature. This presents that, generally, chocolates with added cocoa shell could be safe for human consumption but there are also some opened questions about HVED's influence on these metals that need to be answered.

Automated summary

The study found that high voltage electrical discharge treatment led to a decrease in potassium, cadmium, uranium, cobalt, nickel, iron, molybdenum, chromium, manganese, and copper content in cocoa shell, but an increase in calcium. Chocolates made with added cocoa shell were deemed safe for human consumption, but the control of toxic element content still needs to be carefully managed.