The Science of Chocolate
Dr Renee Smart
Community Awareness Programme Manager
ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology
Dr Michelle Taylor, from the ARC COE for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology, talks chocolate and good health with Rylands Residents.
(Photographer: Michael Shaw, AMSI)
Is chocolate good or bad for us? Scientists from the Australian Research Council Centres of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology, Coherent X-Ray Science (CXS), and Mathematics and Statistics of Complex Systems (Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, AMSI) revealed the answer to this enduring question to residents at the Melbourne Rylands Retirement Villages during National Science Week 2008.
"We want to give people the message that eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate, which contains antioxidants, will benefit your health through fighting free radical damage. So no-one should feel guilty about occasionally indulging in chocolate", said Dr Michelle Taylor, ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology.
Free Radicals are highly reactive species with an unpaired electron. In the body they have the potential to cause cell damage in their quest for electrons. Free Radicals have been implicated in many diseases for example, cancer and heart disease. Antioxidants fight free radical damage in the body by mopping up free radicals. Many people have heard that red wine and green tea are high in antioxidants, however cocoa has twice the quantity of antioxidants than red wine and three times that of green tea. To get the most antioxidants from chocolate, eat dark chocolate varieties but don't follow it with a glass of milk as milk reduces the absorption of antioxidants in the stomach.
In addition to hearing about the health benefits of chocolate, residents had the opportunity to sample and rate numerous dark chocolate varieties in the same way chocolate companies conduct market research. Professional chocolate samplers rate over 30 chocolate qualities, from smoothness to bitterness to chocolate preference. But what properties of chocolate make a more desirable product? Dr Dimetre Triadis, from AMSI revealed how mathematics and statistics are helping chocolate manufacturers correlate favourable chocolate properties with chocolate preference.
Chocolate making is now a high-tech business, with manufacturers enlisting the help of synchrotron science to enlighten them with what makes some chocolate better than others. Dr Stephen Mudie, on behalf of the CXS and the Australian Synchrotron, explained that chocolate comes in a number of different chemical forms, the most desirable of which is form V. Synchrotron scientists have closely monitored the formation of V during the sheering, heating and cooling manufacturing processes, and found that significantly lower temperatures than current practices produced the highest quantities of form V. As a consequence many chocolate production companies have significantly reduced their energy consumption.
The event was well received by the residents, many of whom were retired medical practitioners and scientists. "A brilliant idea, very interesting, great to keep up to date with some of the advances in science and technology", said Rylands resident Mr Charles Ross.
"We were really excited to present this event to senior Melbournians", said Tania Smith, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coherent X-Ray Science, "National Science Week activities usually target younger age groups, but we at the Centres of Excellence are aware that senior people are just as interested in science and wanted to bring some of the celebrations of scientific achievements to them. What better way than with chocolate!"
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