Raw vs roasted cacao

We use raw cacao in our chocolate, but what actually is raw cacao and what is just marketing rubbish? We’ll give you an explainer…

What are raw foods?

A food is considered “raw” if it has not reached a certain temperature. The thresholds are a little fuzzy, but this is generally considered to be around 42 - 48 degrees celsius. After these temperatures, many chemical reactions occur in foods that are thought to kill various enzymes needed for digestion and destroy nutrients that can’t withstand high temperatures. Water-soluble vitamins, like vitamin C and the B vitamins start to break down at these temperatures meaning nutrients are lost during the heating process. Sometimes however, cooking foods can lead to more nutrients being released, for example cooking tomatoes can actually boost levels of lycopene availability, so it’s not as simple as saying that raw foods contain more nutrients than cooked foods. It depends on the food and the nutrient profile and the kind of heat applied. Some foods also need to be cooked in order to break down undigestible material, like lectins in lentils, or chitin in some mushrooms. That brings us to cacao:

What happens with raw cacao?

Cacao, once picked goes through a process of fermentation, and then is usually roasted to create the chocolatey flavour profile that we all know and love. Unroasted cacao beans are quite bitter so roasting generally removes that bitter flavour and gives it a softer taste. Raw cacao is made by skipping this step of roasting and instead the cacao is usually fermented, then sun-dried and then further processed into cacao liquour usually by cold pressing the cacao solids from the fat of the cacao bean (cacao butter).

So, raw cacao has a strong, earthy, and slightly bitter taste, making it ideal for those who prefer a more natural and intense chocolate flavor. Raw cacao also preserves more polyphenols and flavanoids that are degraded at higher temperatures. A study by Gültekin-Özgüven, et al. found that roasting cacao beans can reduce the amount of polyphenols by as much as 65%. Polyphenols are powerful antioxidants that help fight inflammation and modulate the immune system, so … pretty good stuff.

Cacao pod with raw cacao seeds inside. The cacao seeds are surrounded by a white pulp which is removed during fermentation.

What about roasted Cacao?

Roasted cacao heats the cacao beans to higher temperatures (around 120 to 170 degrees celsius). The roasting process also lowers the acidity of beans due to the reduction of the volatile acids’ concentration. Aside from flavour changes, roasting also release melanoidins, a bioactive source of antioxidants, antimicrobial, and prebiotic compounds. Reduced polyphenols during roasting may not also be a completely bad thing, as polyphenols can interfere with iron absorption if you consume cacao at the same time as other dietary sources of iron (Hurrell, 1999).

What about heat during fermentation?

Good question. During fermentation, cacao beans produce a thermic reaction, generating temperatures up to 50 degrees celsius, which is over the threshold for food to be considered truly raw (see image below). This means that based purely on temperature, whether chocolate can truly be classified as ‘raw’ is up interpretation. But as we discussed above, raw food also relates to the type of heat and nutritional profile, which, in cacao is definitely altered during roasting, but simply fermenting the cacao seems to retain most of the original nutrient profile. So, we’re sticking with the ‘raw’ label, mostly because its a useful label to contrast the changes that happen through roasting.

Temperature dynamic during cacao fermentation. Herrera-Rocha et al. (2021).

So which is better?

The answer is: it depends on your preferences and health choices. We love the taste and power of ‘raw’ cacao and we like that it stays jam packed with antioxidants that were present from when the fruit was first picked. We’ve had the amazing opportunity to cut open a freshly picked cacao pod and eat the beans straight from the pod and this is a truly magical experience, so we’re sticking with raw cacao for now - we hope it brings you joy!

• References

  Gültekin-Özgüven M., Berktaş I., Özçelik B. Influence of processing conditions on procyanidin profiles and antioxidant capacity of chocolates: Optimization of dark chocolate manufacturing by response surface methodology. LWT Food Sci. Technol. 2016;66:252–259. doi: 10.1016/j.lwt.2015.10.047.

  Herrera-Rocha, F., Cala, M.P., Aguirre Mejía, J.L. et al. Dissecting fine-flavor cocoa bean fermentation through metabolomics analysis to break down the current metabolic paradigm. Sci Rep 11, 21904 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01427-8

  Hurrell, R. F., Reddy, M., & Cook, J. D. (1999). Inhibition of non-haem iron absorption in man by polyphenolic-containing beverages. British Journal of Nutrition, 81(4), 289-295.