Processed cocoa powder still rich in antioxidants

In a study published in the October issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, scientists from US confectionary company Hershey found cocoa powder to have one of the highest antioxidant levels.

Analyzing Hershey's Natural Cocoa Powder and 19 other cocoa powders, the study found that natural cocoa powders have the highest levels of antioxidants, with an average of 34.6mg of flavanols per gram of powder, or about 3.5% of total flavanols by weight. This places cocoa powder among the foods highest in these types of antioxidants.

The study went on to look at a variety of Dutched (alkaline processed) cocoa powders, which are commonly used by the food industry. New findings showed that these powders, especially the light- and medium-Dutched cocoa powders, retained significant amounts of flavanol antioxidants. In fact, despite the losses created by light-to-medium Dutch processing, these powders still were in the top 10% of flavanol-containing foods when results were compared to foods listed in the US Department of Agriculture Procyanidin Database.