Antioxidants in dark chocolate are a big deal......so we decided to measure the antioxidant levels in our Theo bars ourselves using a fluorescent oxygen radical adsorbance capacity assay....
This technique involves measuring the inhibition of quenching activity of peroxyl radicals on fluorescein dye. Fluorescein is very sensitive to oxidation. We can measure the antioxidants in chocolate by measuring the time it takes for the dye to be destroyed in an oxidizing environment. The longer the fluorescence signal persists the more antioxidants are present. All of this can be measured on a kinetic fluorescent plate reader.
Recent reports have highlighted that certain types of Dark Chocolate have little or no flavanoid antioxidant activity left. This is because certain manufacturers treat their chocolate with alkaline chemicals to darken the chocolate or dilute the chocolate with cheap sweeteners and fillers. Needlesss to say doing bad things to chocolate doesn't end up tasting good, nor is it very healthy.....
We don't believe in torturing chocolate at Theo. It seems like such a waste!
The right way to make chocolate is to use the requisite amount of Cacao with just a touch of sugar and no additives. Nothing else...zip...nada.....just Cacao and sugar......
So below are the results of our first run at an ORAC assay. Not surprisingly there is plenty of activity left in Theo bars. Interestingly we see a little more activity in the Ghanaian chocolate which is consistent with this scientific study.
Wow, you expended much effort to do this. Please know it's deeply appreciated. (Yum, this gives me a reason to stock up on some Ghana tomorrow.) Truly, thank you for doing such an involved analysis and sharing the results with us.
Posted by: Liss | February 14, 2008 at 07:40 PM