Chemical composition of wild Theobroma species and their comparison to the cacao bean
1991
Sotelo, A. | Alvarez, R.G.
Theobromine, caffeine, and theophylline content were determined in different parts of the plant in two varieties of Theobroma cacao and two wild Theobroma species, Th. bicolor and Th. angustifolium. Proximate analysis was performed for the bean, pulp, and shell of the four samples, and trypain inhibitors and hemagglutinins were also investigated in beans and leaves. Fat was the main component in the seeds of all of the samples. The highest levels of alkaloids were found in the seeds of both varieties of Th. cacao, theobromine being the main alkaloid found: 1.39 and 2.03 g/100 g in seeds of criollo and Costarrica varieties, respectively. In the Th. bicolor the highest concentration of theobromine was in the hull, 915 mg, followed by flowers, 725 mg, and leaves, 619 mg/100 g of sample. In Th. angustifolium, the highest concentration of theobromine was in the flowers (510 mg/100 g of sample). Caffeine was the second more important alkaloid in the cacao beans (180-920 mg/100 g of sample). In the wild theobroma species it was the alkaloid found in the lowest concentration in the seeds; in the flowers of the Th. bicolor it was in higher concentration (96 mg/100 g of sample). Theophylline in the Theobroma genus has not been previously reported. The highest concentration was found in the seeds of Th. cacao (357-367 mg/100 g of sample) and in the flowers and leaves of Th. bicolor (301 and 187 mg/100 g of sample, respectively). Trypsin inhibitor content in the seeds of Th. cacao was higher than in the wild species, 30-41 and 8-8.6 TUI/mg of sample, respectively. No hemagglutinins were found in any of the four samples studied.
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