Cocoa butter is vegetable fat in the pale yellow coloured solid form. It is edible and mostly used in chocolates and soap and cosmetic products. It is extracted from cocoa beans. It contains saturated fatty acids mainly, derived from stearic acid and palmitic acid. It also contains some unsaturated acids such as oleic acid, palmitoleic acid and linoleic acid. It is rich in vitamin E and helps in restoring elasticity of skin and prevents stretch marks. It possesses the characteristic of polymorphism with four different crystal forms having different melting points, which is a useful characteristic for chocolate making.
Cocoa butter is obtained from cocoa beans. Cocoa beans are first fermented, roasted and then separated from their hulls. It is then extracted from ground cocoa beans by Broma process or the hydraulic press at warm temperature.
Cocoa butter is a major agent of domestic soap and detergent industry. It is used to make base soap which is soap before the addition of scent, colour and enhancing agents. It is also a cleansing agent as well as being applicable as surfactant and viscosity controlling agent.
It is used in milk chocolate and ice cream products to give structure and softness to food product.
It is an emulsifying agent and viscosity controlling agent in cosmetic products. It provides heat stabilisation and controls the viscosity of the product. It is used as polymerisation catalyst emulsifier in the synthetic rubber industry.