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Theobromine extraction from cacao beans
- Thread starter Phlux-
- Start date
nadir
Rising Star
i was thinking about same thing 
found this : "The product distributions in the extraction process were studied experimentally. In a chloroform-water system, the caffeine distribution ratio was about 15 and was not affected by pH in the 2 to 12 range, while the distribution ratio of theobromine was about 0.45 for pH < 5 and was strongly affected by the pH of the aqueous phase. The distribution ratio of theobromine was near zero for pH > 10. Therefore, theobromine and caffeine can be recovered separately by adjusting the pH in the aqueous phase. The crude products of theobromine and caffeine can been obtained in the recovery process by evaporation. "
however, it seems that theobromine is almost insoluble in ".. benzene, ether, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride"
here's an idea:
1. make cacao by boiling cacao beans in water
2. make defat with chloroform (or something else) - that should help get rid of oils and other xanthines(caffeine etc.)
3. acidify brew with vinegar/hcl(?) and pull with chloroform( or something else)
4. evap. chloroform
will that work?
other idea is to saturate acetone(as i remember most of the xanthines are soluble in acetone) with citric acid and pull cacao beans..
found this : "The product distributions in the extraction process were studied experimentally. In a chloroform-water system, the caffeine distribution ratio was about 15 and was not affected by pH in the 2 to 12 range, while the distribution ratio of theobromine was about 0.45 for pH < 5 and was strongly affected by the pH of the aqueous phase. The distribution ratio of theobromine was near zero for pH > 10. Therefore, theobromine and caffeine can be recovered separately by adjusting the pH in the aqueous phase. The crude products of theobromine and caffeine can been obtained in the recovery process by evaporation. "
however, it seems that theobromine is almost insoluble in ".. benzene, ether, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride"
here's an idea:
1. make cacao by boiling cacao beans in water
2. make defat with chloroform (or something else) - that should help get rid of oils and other xanthines(caffeine etc.)
3. acidify brew with vinegar/hcl(?) and pull with chloroform( or something else)
4. evap. chloroform
will that work?
other idea is to saturate acetone(as i remember most of the xanthines are soluble in acetone) with citric acid and pull cacao beans..
but where's the fun of just buying it, or essential oils, when one can extract them
theobromine is actually soluble in chloroform and methylene chloride, but it's easily pulled with alcohols... theobromine has one proton donor, and two acceptors.
swim did a dark cocoa extraction with a soxhlet full of everclear; off-white (very light brown) powder and cocoa butter were the result
theobromine is actually soluble in chloroform and methylene chloride, but it's easily pulled with alcohols... theobromine has one proton donor, and two acceptors.
swim did a dark cocoa extraction with a soxhlet full of everclear; off-white (very light brown) powder and cocoa butter were the result
69ron
Rising Star
If you like extracting it could be a fun project. But for practical reasons it's better to just buy it. To be honest though I'd much rather eat some chocolate than have my theobromine in pure form. I have some theobromine tablets. The effect is the same as eating chocolate, even when you have a lot of theobromine it doesn't do much. It's relatively uninteresting on its own.
Well i love dark chocolate - but i love extracting too.(benzyme hit the nail on the head)
Why extract it - because i love extracting things myself - brings a huge amount of reward, i enjoy the processes - The nexus and many of your guys posts made me realize this.
I have methylene chloride - not chloroform(but i guess i can make some up if its required)
How was the butter and powder separated at the end ?
Why extract it - because i love extracting things myself - brings a huge amount of reward, i enjoy the processes - The nexus and many of your guys posts made me realize this.
I have methylene chloride - not chloroform(but i guess i can make some up if its required)
How was the butter and powder separated at the end ?
vacuum filtration, but they weren't separated further.
theobromine is a crystalline alkaloid and cocoa butter is a mixure of fatty acids.. breaking up the solid cake-like extract separates some of it as powder.
but one could also separate it with a column. 8)
theobromine is a crystalline alkaloid and cocoa butter is a mixure of fatty acids.. breaking up the solid cake-like extract separates some of it as powder.
but one could also separate it with a column. 8)