Optimization of Cocoa Butter (<i>Theobroma</i><i> </i><i>cacao</i> L.) Extraction with Ethanol Using Response Surface Methodology

Cocoa butter is the natural and edible fat extracted from the cocoa bean, it has a characteristic aroma and flavor of chocolate and is mainly composed of lipids, including saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. The classic extraction technique for these lipids is called Soxhlet, where highly non-polar solvents, such as hexane or petroleum ether, are used; however, the use of these solvents is not only harmful to the environment, but also represents high costs for their acquisition. The objective of this research was to evaluate the content of cocoa butter extraction using ethanol as a solvent. The Box-Behnken Design was used to investigate the effects of the intervening variables of the Soxhlet technique such as extraction time, cocoa powder nib weight and solvent volume, and the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied to determine the optimum cocoa butter content. The polarity of ethanol generated two phases in the extraction, a liquid and an oily phase, which were separated by centrifugation. It was shown that the optimum extraction content (47.317 g/100g) was obtained in a time of 3.35 h, nib weight of 15 g and solvent volume of 157.17 mL. The preliminary results of this study can serve as a basis for extractions in continuous systems at industrial level.