Isolation and thermal characterization of high-melting seed crystals formed during cocoa butter solidification

Seed crystals which formed during early stages of cocoa butter solidification have been isolated and determined to have extremely high melting points. The melting points of the seed crystals generally exceeded 60°C, in contrast to cocoa butter, which melts between 30–35°C. In addition, the melting point of the seed crystals decreased as a function of crystal growth time. Evidence suggests that the high-melting seed crystal is not an additional polymorphic form of cocoa butter, but rather a distinct crystalline entity. Consequently, a unique compositional make-up is suspected as being responsible for the elevated melting point. A technique to separate seed crystals from the molten cocoa butter mass has been developed. The procedure has been shown not to alter the thermal and compositional properties of the isolated seed crystals.