What is the difference between natural and alkalized cocoa powder?

Cocoa powder and its sources

Cocoa powder is the cocoa beans (seeds) taken out from the bean puffs (fruits) of the cocoa tree, and the cocoa bean fragments (commonly known as cocoa cake) obtained through fermentation, coarse crushing, peeling and other processes, and the powdered material crushed by the defatted cocoa cake, i.e. cocoa powder.

Cocoa powder according to its fat content is divided into high, medium and low-fat cocoa powder; according to the different processing methods are divided into natural powder and alkalized powder, according to the origin is divided into West African cocoa powder, Indonesian cocoa powder, etc.. Today we look at the difference between natural cocoa powder and alkalized cocoa powder.

The difference between natural cocoa powder and alkalized cocoa powder

1. Different production processes
Natural cocoa powder is directly processed and ground from cocoa beans, without adding any chemical additives, which is pure natural health food. Alkalized cocoa powder is made from cocoa beans without adding any chemical additives.

2. Different sensory indicators
The color of alkalized cocoa powder is darker than that of natural cocoa powder.
The appearance of pure natural cocoa powder is brownish yellow to light brown in color, alkalized cocoa powder is darker in color, brownish red to brownish black, if the color is too dark, it may be the addition of food coloring; natural cocoa powder emits cocoa aroma, and the normal alkalized powder has a stronger aroma.

3. Different physical and chemical indicators
The difference between natural cocoa powder and alkalized cocoa powder in physical and chemical indicators mainly lies in the ash content and PH value.

Pure natural cocoa powder is acidic, so in the use of restricted, generally only used to make solid food. Alkalized cocoa powder has better solubility due to the addition of edible alkali, and its use is more extensive accordingly. Liquid products (e.g. milk, beverages, etc.) usually use alkalized cocoa powder.

How to choose cocoa powder

Condition: Good cocoa powder is fine, without lumps. The color is light brown or brownish red. If the color is particularly dark, it may be due to the addition of food coloring (except for cocoa black powder).

Odor: the poor quality of the cocoa powder will smell burnt or particularly strong aroma, which may be the result of the addition of flavorings. A good quality cocoa powder with a light and fresh aroma is preferred.

Fat content: Finally, you can put the cocoa powder in your palm and rub it, if your palm is dry, it means that the fat content is low, if there is an obvious greasy feeling, it means that the fat content is high. Cocoa powder can be used in the production of coffee, chocolate, ice cream, candy, beverage and pastry. Different products have different requirements for the fat content of cocoa powder, such as cocoa latte note generally use low-fat cocoa powder.