Chocolate
(chok' oh lat).
DEFINITION
Chocolate is a powder prepared from the roasted, cured kernels of the ripe seed of Theobroma cacao L. (Fam. Sterculiaceae). Chocolate yields NLT 10.0% and NMT 22.0% of nonvolatile ether-soluble extractive.
COMPOSITION
•  Content of Nonvolatile Ether-Soluble Extractive
Sample:  10 g of Chocolate
Analysis:  Extract the Sample with anhydrous ethyl ether in a continuous-extraction apparatus for 8 h. Allow the ether solution to evaporate spontaneously in a suitable tared container, dry at 105 for 1 h, and weigh the nonvolatile ether-soluble extractive.
[Note—Retain the ether-insoluble residue for the test for Botanic Characteristics, Total Ash, Acid-Insoluble Ash, and Crude Fiber. ]
Acceptance criteria:  10.0%–22.0%
CONTAMINANTS
•  Microbial Enumeration Tests 61 and Tests for Specified Microorganisms 62: The total bacterial count does not exceed 5 × 103 cfu/g, and it meets the requirements of the tests for absence of Escherichia coli, a 10-g specimen being used.
SPECIFIC TESTS
•  Botanic Characteristics
Microscopic:  It shows numerous broken parenchyma cells of the cotyledons containing a reddish brown or purplish brown to yellowish orange pigment; numerous starch grains; oil globules; aleurone grains; and occasionally acicular or prismatic crystals of fat. The starch grains are simple and two- to three-compound, the single grains up to 15 µm in diameter, and they stain slowly with iodine TS. The ether-insoluble residue retained from the Content of Nonvolatile Ether-Soluble Extractive shows few or no fragments of cocoa shells and no cereal starch grains.
•  Articles of Botanical Origin, Total Ash 561
Sample:  Use the ether-insoluble residue of Content of Nonvolatile Ether-Soluble Extractive.
Acceptance criteria:  NMT 8.0%
•  Articles of Botanical Origin, Acid-Insoluble Ash 561
Sample:  Use the ether-insoluble residue of Content of Nonvolatile Ether-Soluble Extractive.
Acceptance criteria:  NMT 0.4%
•  Articles of Botanical Origin, Crude Fiber 561
Sample:  Use the ether-insoluble residue of Content of Nonvolatile Ether-Soluble Extractive.
Acceptance criteria:  NMT 7.0%
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
•  Packaging and Storage: Preserve in well-closed containers.
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Topic/Question Contact Expert Committee
Monograph Maged H. Sharaf, Ph.D.
Principal Scientific Liaison
1-301-816-8318
(DS2010) Monographs - Dietary Supplements
61 Radhakrishna S Tirumalai, Ph.D.
Principal Scientific Liaison
1-301-816-8339
(GCM2010) General Chapters - Microbiology
62 Radhakrishna S Tirumalai, Ph.D.
Principal Scientific Liaison
1-301-816-8339
(GCM2010) General Chapters - Microbiology
USP35–NF30 Page 1759
Pharmacopeial Forum: Volume No. 27(4) Page 2795