Color-enhanced compositions

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of producing compositions with enhanced color properties and to compositions obtainable by such a method, especially cocoa-based compositions with enhanced color properties. The method comprises the steps of providing an initial composition comprising a polyphenol, adding an aqueous base to the initial composition to produce an aqueous mixture, heating the aqueous mixture to a temperature of 50 to 100° C. during a time period of 120 to 300 minutes, cooling the aqueous mixture, and optionally adjusting the pH of the aqueous mixture to between 6 and 9. The method further comprises oxygenising the aqueous base and/or the aqueous mixture, wherein the produced food product comprises chromophores having an absorption maximum between 505 to 515 nm and/or 428 to 438 nm.

Claims

1. A method of producing a chromophore or a food product comprising a chromophore, comprising the steps of: a. providing an initial composition comprising a polyphenol; b. adding an aqueous base to the initial composition to produce an aqueous mixture comprising 0.1 wt % to 2 wt % base; c. heating the aqueous mixture to a temperature of 50 to 100° C. during a time period of 120 to 300 minutes; d. cooling the aqueous mixture; and e. optionally, adjusting the pH of the aqueous mixture to between 6 and 9; wherein the method further comprises oxygenating the aqueous base of step (b) and/or the aqueous mixture of step (c) and wherein the chromophore has an absorption maximum between 505 to 515 nm and/or 428 to 438 nm.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the initial composition is a composition produced from any one or more of cocoa beans, green tea, malt, peaches, grapefruit, argan kernels, acai berries, black grapes, blackberries, pomes fruit, cherries, raspberries, broad beans, prunes, and coffee beans.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the initial composition comprises a polyphenol rich extract from any one or more of cocoa beans, green tea, malt, peaches, grapefruit, argan kernels, acai berries, black grapes, blackberries, pomes fruit, cherries, raspberries, broad beans, prunes, and coffee beans.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the polyphenol is a flavonoid, or a flavonoid polymer.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the aqueous base of step (b) has a pH of 8 to 13.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the base is selected from the group consisting of alkali carbonates, alkali hydroxides, and mixtures thereof.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein oxygenation is achieved by adding a gas flow to the aqueous base and/or aqueous mixture.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein oxygenation is achieved by adding an oxidizing agent to the aqueous base and/or aqueous mixture.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the cooling of step (d) is to a temperature in the range of 15 to 30° C.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the chromophore comprises one or more of 6′-hydroxycatechinic acid, dehydrodicatechin, and dehydrocatechinic acid-catechin dimer.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the chromophore comprises a compound having the general formula (I) ##STR00010## wherein R.sup.1 is selected from ##STR00011## and tautomers and stereoisomers thereof.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the chromophore comprises a compound of formula (V) ##STR00012## wherein R1 and R2 are hydrogen and R3 and R4 together form a moiety of formula (VI), or R1 and R2 together form a moiety of formula (VI) and R3 and R4 are hydrogen; and tautomers and stereoisomers thereof.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the produced food product has a reddishness value (a*) of 5-15.

14. The method according to claim 1, said method comprising (e) adjusting the pH of the aqueous mixture to between 6 and 9; and a further step of drying and/or roasting the product of step (e).

15. The method according to claim 1, said method comprising a further step of isolating at least one chromophore from the mixture, said at least one chromophore having an absorption maximum between 505 to 515 nm and/or 428 to 438 nm.

16. A method according to claim 1, wherein the produced chromophore or food product is mixed with one or more additional ingredients to form a final food composition.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the aqueous mixture comprising 0.2 wt % to 1.5 wt % base.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the oxygenation is achieved by heating the aqueous mixture in step (c) in a pure oxygen atmosphere.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the oxygenation is achieved by passing oxygen into the aqueous mixture for 5 minutes to 30 minutes prior to heating.

Description

FIGURES

(1) The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a rCDA diagram of the a* value of prior art cocoa based food product and cocoa based food products obtained by the present invention as a function of the dilution factor

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates a embodiment of an MPLC chromatogram of a food product according to the invention.

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates a rCDA diagram of MPLC fractions wherein the rCD-factor of each fraction from various food products according to the invention is compared.

(5) FIG. 4 illustrates a Luna phehex-HPLC chromatogram of peak 2 of fraction O1. after separating fraction O1

(6) FIG. 5 illustrates a preparative HPLC chromatogram of the aqueous fraction of O3 after a pre-separation by SPE.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) The invention will now be described in greater detail. Each specific embodiment and variation of features applies equally to each aspect of the invention unless specifically stated otherwise.

(8) The term initial composition should be understood broadly as any naturally occurring material such as but not limited to cocoa beans, barley grain or grapefruit, which may have been subjected to one or more extraction/processing steps such a but not limited to defatting, milling, dehydration, sieving steps to provide a raw material with an increased concentration of polyphenols, preferably flavonoids or flavonoid polymers, in comparison to the naturally occurring material. The initial composition will preferably be suitable for use in food products.

(9) The initial composition will preferably be a cocoa-based composition, that is a composition based on cocoa beans, cocoa nibs or their derivatives, such as cocoa powder, cocoa liquor, or cocoa cake. The term cocoa powder contemplates cocoa material from any source or processed according to any methods known in the art (e.g. to improve taste, texture and/or appearance) in powder form. Preferably, the cocoa powder will have an average particle size of 2 to 100 microns, more preferably 5 to 50 microns, more preferably 5 to 20 microns.

(10) The term food product as used herein refers to the product of the method of the invention. The term food composition refers to a composition of ingredients, including the food product, in the form in which it will be sold and/or consumed. It may include, for example, chocolate products, biscuits, cakes, dairy products and beverages, such as chocolate milk. A food product can be added to a food composition during any of the steps of making said food composition.

(11) The term chromophore should, in the context of the invention, be understood as the compounds or groups of compounds, which are responsible for imparting color properties to the composition in which they are present.

(12) The term potent, in the context of the invention, refers to the ability of a compound or composition to impart a relatively high reddish color dilution (rCD)-factor compared to compounds or compositions not produced according to the invention.

(13) The term rCD-factor refers to the factor of dilution, which is needed to make the color difference between a blank (e.g. water) and the food product solution undetectable.

(14) The term reddish value should be understood as the maximum reddish value (a*) of a food product measured on the l*a*b scale. The reddish value disclosed in the present application is measured from an aqueous suspension comprising the food product with a dilution factor up to 2048 in relation to a blank water sample unless stated otherwise.

(15) According to the invention a food product can be produced by various approaches to obtain distinct color properties at mild processing conditions. In this context mild processing conditions means low alkali levels and/or low temperatures maintained over relatively prolonged periods of time. For the ease of understanding, different embodiments of producing a food product according to the invention are described and these different (non-limiting) approaches are described below.

(16) The ‘oxygen approach’ refers to an approach wherein the aqueous mixture in step c) is heated under a substantially pure oxygen containing atmosphere.

(17) The ‘oxygen x min approach’ refers to an approach, where an oxygen stream is passed into the aqueous mixture of step b). The period of time, x, the stream is passed into the mixture can in principle be in the multitude of hours. However, in order to provide a cost-efficient process, it is preferred that x is between 1 to 30 minutes, preferably 5 to 10 minutes. Generally, step c) will be performed under an oxygen containing atmosphere, preferably a pure oxygen containing atmosphere when applying the oxygen x min approach. Where step c) is performed under a nitrogen atmosphere, it has been shown that a more yellowish food product and more yellowish chromophores will be obtained.

(18) The ‘oxidizing agent approach’ refers to an approach, in which an oxidizing agent is added to the aqueous mixture of step b). Generally, the heating of step c) will be performed under an oxygen containing atmosphere, preferably a pure oxygen containing atmosphere. When applying the oxidizing agent approach, in particular a hydrogen peroxide approach has been successful for controlling the color of a food product. Step c) may be performed under a nitrogen atmosphere. It has been shown that if a nitrogen atmosphere is used, a more yellowish food product and more yellowish chromophores will be obtained.

(19) Independently of the atmosphere selected in step c), the oxidizing agent can be added in step b) both before or simultaneously with passing e.g. an oxygen stream into the aqueous mixture in step b).

(20) For a better control and cost efficient process it is advantageous that the food product is a high polyphenol extract, for example a high polyphenol cocoa extract. A high polyphenol cocoa extract can be produced by defatting a cocoa powder and using solvent extraction (such as soxhlet extraction) to isolate a polyphenol-rich fraction.

(21) In one particular example, 10 g of defatted cocoa powder was suspended in a mixture of methanol/water (100 ml, 70/30, v/v), treated with ultrasonic sound for 10 mins, stirred for 20 mins at ambient temperature and filtered afterwards. The residue was treated again by the same procedure. Finally, the collected extracts were evaporated and then the sample was freeze-dried.

(22) It is within the skill of the art to determine the most appropriate way of providing an initial composition and/or high polyphenol extract of said initial composition, depending on which naturally occurring material is used.

Example 1—Reddish Color Evaluation of a Cocoa Based Food Product

(23) A study was conducted to evaluate the reddish color properties of a cocoa based food product obtained by the present invention. The cocoa based food product obtained by the present invention was compared to a process simulating the conditions of a commercial alkalizing process and a process performed without the presence of a base.

(24) The method simulating the conditions of a commercially used process will hereinafter after be referred to as model 1. The method of the present invention will hereinafter be referred to a model 2.

(25) In total five different methods were used to treat high polyphenol cocoa extracts, and all the treated cocoa powders were evaluated on their reddish color properties. The method of providing each sample is described in table 1.

(26) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Samples tested in Example 1 Sample Type Procedure 1 Model 1 An aliquot of high polyphenol cocoa extract (1 g) Unalkalized was dissolved in 50 ml water. The aqueous mixture was heated to for 45 min at 90 degrees. Afterwards, the mixture was immediately cooled to ambient temperature. The sample was then freeze dried. 2 Model 1 An aliquot of high polyphenol cocoa extract (1 g) Highly was dissolved in 50 ml solution of potassium alkalized carbonate (2.7 g/100 ml). The aqueous mixture was heated to for 45 min at 90 degrees. Afterwards the mixture was immediately cooled to ambient temperature and pH adjusted to 7 with formic acid (10%). The sample was then freeze dried. 3 Model 2 An aliquot of high polyphenol cocoa extract (1 g) Low was dissolved in a 50 ml solution of potassium alkalization hydroxide (1 g/100 ml). The solution was then heated for 2 h at 60° C. under a normal atmosphere. Afterwards, the mixture was immediately cooled to ambient temperature and pH adjusted to 7 with formic acid (10%). The sample was then freeze dried. 4 Model 2 An aliquot of high polyphenol cocoa extract (1 g) Oxygen was dissolved in 50 ml solution of potassium approach hydroxide (1 g/100 ml). The solution was thenheated for 2 h at 60° C. under a pure oxygen atmosphere. Afterwards, the mixture was immediately cooled to ambient temperature and pH adjusted to 7 with formic acid (10%). The sample was then freeze dried. 5 Model 2 An aliquot of high polyphenol cocoa extract (1 g) Oxygen was dissolved in 50 ml solution of potassium 10 min hydroxide (1 g/100 ml). Oxygen was passed into approach the solution for 10 minutes and afterwards it was heated for 2 hours at 60° C. Afterwards, the mixture was immediately cooled to ambient temperature and pH adjusted to 7 with formic acid (10%). The sample was then freeze dried.

(27) Each freeze dried sample was subjected to a rCD analysis (rCDA) in order to compare different colored solutions by their color intensity and color activity, especially relevant is the reddishness (a*) of the sample.

(28) The rCDA was performed by diluting each sample in 30 ml water and measuring the color of the solution. This is defined as a standard solution on a HunterLab ColorflexEZ in relation to 30 ml water, which is defined as a blank. The standard solution is diluted in 1:1 steps until there is no more detectable difference to the blank solution in reddishness (a*). The last step of dilution is defined as the rCD-factor.

(29) All characterizations of the reddish value (a*) performed in this experiment and for all other examples unless specifically stated otherwise were performed with a Hunterlab colorFlexEZ 45/0° color spectrophotometer. The mode type is reflectance, measuring angle 45/0° LAV with an area view of 31,750 mm and flash count of 1415. For standardization black glass and white tile (X: 80.87, y: 85.85, Z: 91.41) from Hunterlab were used. For color evaluation EasyMatchQC Software version 4.70 with Sensor manager v4.30 and ColorCalculator v3.37 was used.

(30) FIG. 1 shows a* as a function of dilution factor. From FIG. 1 it was concluded that a higher maximum value is obtained for the samples comprising a food product obtained according to the present invention. Each of the three samples had a maximum above 30 and both samples 4 and 5 showed a reddish value above 35.

(31) Hence, with the present method is provided a cocoa based product with very distinct color properties.

Example 2—Identification of Potent Food Product Fractions

(32) Model 1 and model 2 samples of freeze-dried cocoa based food products were pre-separated by means of MPLC. The characterization of the food products was performed on a Sepacore (Büchi) with PP cartridge column (id. 40 mm, 1.150 mm) self-packed and LiChroprep RP18, 25-40 μm mesh material (Merck). The elution was performed by a water/methanol gradient: water (pH=7.6)/methanol (100/0, v/v) 3 min isocratic, 15 min to (60/40, v/v), in 5 min to (0/100, v/v) for 5 min.

(33) The pre-separation of cocoa based food products resulted in a fragmentation of the cocoa based food product into seven main fractions. The biggest fraction 3, as seen on FIG. 2, was further fragmented into four sub-fractions (3A-3D).

(34) Each fraction was characterized via the described rCDA procedure and compared by their rCDA-factors. The results can be seen in FIG. 3. For model 1 samples, only fraction O1 showed remarkable rCDA-factors (not shown). In direct comparison, the most potent fractions of the food product produced by the oxygen approach and oxygen 5 min approach were O3C-5 and for the oxygen 10 min approach fractions O1, 3C, 3D and 7 were the most potent.

(35) Additionally, for the model 2-hydrogen peroxide approach, the fraction 3B was the most potent fraction, besides fraction 1, 3C, 3D and 4.

(36) The MPLC characterization clearly showed that the food product produced by the present invention contained more active and intensive fractions than compared to model 1.

(37) Thus, it is possible to provide food products with colour properties, which was not previously known.

Example 3—Screening for Chromophores

(38) Each potent fraction was further fractionated for identifying and isolating the chromophores present.

(39) To fractionate the potent fractions of the oxygen approach of model 2, the fractions O1, O3C, O3D, O4 and O7 were further purified using high pressure RP-HPLC.

(40) RP-HPLC analysis of the most potent fraction showed peaks with λ.sub.max=488 nm for fraction O1, λ.sub.max=432 nm and λ.sub.max=436 nm for fraction 03C-O7 with an additional λ.sub.max=512 nm for fractions 3B-O7. Hence, further investigation was conducted to determine the structure of the target compounds with the abovementioned characteristic absorption maxima

(41) A screening experiment was set up to determine the molecular formula of the compounds with λ.sub.max=432 nm, λ.sub.max=436 nm λ.sub.max=488 nm and λ.sub.max=512 nm.

(42) For determining the molecular formula of compounds having a characteristic λ.sub.max=432 nm and 436, the fractions O4-O7 were characterized by UPLC-ESI-TOF-MS measured on a Waters Synapt G2 HDMS mass spectrometer (Waters) coupled to an Acquity UPLC core system (Waters). The analysis established that the target compounds have a molecular formula of C.sub.30H.sub.24O.sub.12. By comparing the mass fragment with literature data, the target compounds were determined as being dehydrodecatechins.

(43) For determining the molecular formula of compounds having a characteristic λ.sub.max=488 nm fraction O1 was characterized with UPLC-ESI-TOF-MS. Comparison with literature data, determined the compounds to be hydroxycatechinic acids with the molecular formula C.sub.12H.sub.11O.sub.7.

(44) For determining the molecular formula of compounds having a characteristic λ.sub.max=512 nm, the MPLC fractions O3B and O7 were characterized with UPLC-TOF-MS, which determined the target compounds to have molecular formula of C.sub.22H.sub.15O.sub.8. No prior literature data was available for the mass fragment. Thus, it is believed that the color active compounds having a characteristic λ.sub.max=512 nm have not been disclosed in the prior art, and are especially not known to be present in a food product.

Example 4—Isolation and Structural Characterization of Chromophores

(45) Structural characterization of the target compounds having a λ.sub.max=488 nm in fraction O1 was performed by purifying the fraction O1 by preparative HPLC system PU-2087 Plus (Jasco) with a Phenomenex Luna 5 μm HILIC column, 250*21.2 mm, 5 μm particle size. The solvent was A: 5 mmol Ammonium formate buffer (AF, pH 5.8); B: Acetonitrile, 5 mmol ammonium formate buffer (90/10, v/v, pH 5.8). The target compounds were eluted with a gradient as follows: A/B (0/100, v/v) 15 min isocratic, in 10 min to (50/50, v/v) for 5 min.

(46) The samples were prepared by taking an aliquot of fraction 1 (100 mg) and diluting the sample in a 5 ml mixture of water, methanol and acetonitrile (1/3/1, v/v/v), filtered through a 0.45 μm membrane (Sartorius). Afterwards, 1 ml of sample was drawn from the solution and used for preparative HILIC HPLC. The target compound with a λ.sub.max=488 was eluted at 21.1 min as a reddish residue. Furthermore, a second color active compound was eluted at 35 min. The target fractions were concentrated under reduced pressure and freeze-dried, providing catechinic acid (Peak 2) as a colorless powder and hydroxycatechinic acid, in particular 6-hydroxycatechinic acid. The identification of the isolated compounds was performed by means of mass spectroscopy, 1D and 2D-NMR spectroscopy such as COSY spectroscopy, HSQC spectroscopy, HMBC spectroscopy and ROESY spectroscopy. The structure of 6-hydroxycatechinic acid follows the formula (a):

(47) ##STR00004##

(48) Structural characterization of the target compounds having a λ.sub.max=432 nm and λ.sub.max=436 was achieved using the preparative HPLC system with a Phenomenex Luna 5 μm HILIC column, 250*21.2 mm, 5 μm particle size. The solvent was A: 5 mmol Ammonium formate buffer (AF, pH 5.8); B: Acetonitrile, 5 mmol ammonium formate buffer (90/10, v/v, pH 5.8). The target compounds were eluted with a gradient as follows: Gradient 2 (HILIC): A/B (0/100, v/v) 15 min isocratic, in 10 min to (50/50, v/v) for 5 min

(49) The sample was prepared by taking an aliquot fraction (100 mg) of O3B-O7, which is diluted in a 5 ml mixture of water, methano and acetonitrile (1/3/1, v/v/v), and filtered through a 0.45 μm membrane (Sartorius). Afterwards, 1 ml of sample was drawn from the solution and further resolved using preparative HPLC. The analysis afforded 5 peaks, wherein Peak 2 and 4 were further separated using the preparative HPLC system with a semi-preparative phenomenex Luna 5 μm Phenyl-Hexyl column, 250*10 mm, 5 μm, particle size. The solvent consisted of A: 5 mmol Ammonium formate buffer (AF, pH 5.8); B: Acetonitrile, 5 mmol ammonium formate buffer (90/10, v/v, pH 5.8). The elution was performed by a solvent gradient defined by the following procedure: A/B (95/5 v/v), in 45 min to (55/45, v/v), in 5 min to (0/100, v/v) for 4 min.

(50) The peak 2 sample was prepared by taking an aliquot (10 mg) from the previous HPLC step and diluting the sample in a 1 ml mixture water and methanol (85/15, v/v). 100 ml of sample was drawn from the solution and used for chromatography. The further separation of peak 2 showed 7 peaks (P2a-g), which can be seen in FIG. 4. Collected fractions were concentrated under reduced pressure and freeze-dried. The freeze-dried fractions were identified as catechin, epicatechin as colorless powder and five different dehydrodicatechins P2c-g.

(51) The identification of the isolated compounds was performed by means of mass spectroscopy, 1D and 2D-NMR spectroscopy such as COSY spectroscopy, HSQC spectroscopy, HMBC spectroscopy and ROESY spectroscopy, which is routine work for the skilled person. The structure of P2e was determined to be dehydrodicatechin having a general formula (I) with a λ.sub.max=432.

(52) ##STR00005##
wherein R.sup.1 is

(53) ##STR00006##

(54) Peak 4 delivered a compound (P4b) with an λ.sub.max=436 at an elution time of 12.3 min and catechinic acid (P4a) after 3.1 min. The structure of P4b was determined to be a dehydrodicatechin-like dimer having the general formula (I)

(55) ##STR00007##
wherein R.sup.1 is

(56) ##STR00008##

(57) Structural characterization of the target compounds having a λ.sub.max=512 nm was performed by purifying the fraction O7. First, the O7 fraction was separated via Solid phase extraction step. The O7 fraction was extracted using a chromabond C18ec solid phase cartridge (45 μm, 60A, 1000 mg, 6 ml, octadecyl modified silica phase (Macherey-Nagel)).

(58) Conditioning was done with 5 ml acetonitrile and 2*5 ml water with a baker box. The sample (50 mg) was dissolved in 10 ml water and assigned to the cartridge. The cartridge was eluted with 10*6 ml water and afterwards allowed to run dry. Subsequently, the acetonitrile fraction was eluted with 2*6 ml acetonititrile. Afterwards, the methanolic fraction was eluted with 2*6 ml methanol.

(59) An aliquot of the methanol fraction of 07 (50 mg) was diluted in a 5 ml mixture of water and methanol (75/25, v/v) and 1 ml of this solution was used for chromatography. The sample was run by preparative HPLC system PU-2087 Plus (Jasco) with a Phenomenex Luna 5 μm phenyl-hexyl column, 250*21.2 mm, 5 μm particle size. The solvent was A: 5 mmol Ammonium formate buffer (AF, pH 5.8); B: Acetonitrile, 5 mmol ammonium formate buffer (90/10, v/v, pH 5.8). The target compounds were eluted with a gradient as follows: A/B (95/5, v/v) in 45 min to (55/45, v/v), in 5 min to (0/100, v/v) for 4 min Collected fractions were concentrated under reduced pressure and freeze-dried.

(60) The compound having an absorption max of 512 nm was also isolated from a O3B fraction obtained by MPLC of a food product produced by the hydrogen peroxide approach according to the invention.

(61) After SPE, the aqueous fraction of O3 was subjected to chromatography following the same parameters as for separation of O7 fractions described above. The chromatogram seen in FIG. 5 shows four different peaks, wherein only peaks 2 to 4 showed an absorption maximum of 512 nm. Hence, fractions from peak 2 to 4 were concentrated under reduced pressure and freeze-dried. The freeze-dried fractions were identified as compounds having the general formula (V)

(62) ##STR00009##
wherein R1 and R2 are hydrogen and R3 and R4 together form a moiety of formula (VI), or R1 and R2 together form a moiety of formula (VI) and R3 and R4 are hydrogen.

(63) The identification of the isolated compounds was performed by means of mass spectroscopy, 1D and 2D-NMR spectroscopy such as COSY spectroscopy, HSQC spectroscopy, HMBC spectroscopy and ROESY spectroscopy, which is routine work for the skilled person.

Example 5—Enhanced Composition

(64) To improve the food product coloring a study was performed to imitate normal high red cocoa powder GT-78 (Gerkens Cocoa®) by enhancing natural cocoa powder (Amber™ from Gerkens Cocoa®) with small amounts of the food product according to the invention.

(65) The enhancing of the natural cocoa powder was achieved by adding small amounts (125-250 mg) of cocoa based food product according to the invention to a natural cocoa powder (5 g) suspended in an aqueous solution.

(66) After each addition, the a* value was measured until an increase of the a* was undetectable.

(67) In total 1.38 g of cocoa based food product produced by the method according to the invention was added to 5 g of natural cocoa powder e.g. amber cocoa powder.

(68) In this study it was possible to achieve an a*-value of 15.7 for the enhanced sample, while the normal high red cocoa powder sample achieved an a*-value of 15.3.

(69) Hence, it is possible not only to mimic the high red cocoa powder, but also to increase the reddish color of the cocoa powder. Furthermore, the taste of the finished cocoa powder can be varied as only a portion of the final composition is derived from an alkalizing process for obtaining a desired colour effect.