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Evaluation of chocolate as a source of dietary copper

Weber, Thomas ; Solioz, Marc

In: European Food Research and Technology, 2014, vol. 238, no. 6, p. 1063-1066

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    Title
    • Evaluation of chocolate as a source of dietary copper
    Author
    • Weber, Thomas. Department Clinical Research, University of Bern, Murtenstrasse 35, 3010, Berne, Switzerland
    • Solioz, Marc. Department Clinical Research, University of Bern, Murtenstrasse 35, 3010, Berne, Switzerland
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Language
    • English
    Published in
    • European Food Research and Technology, 2014, vol. 238, no. 6, p. 1063-1066. Springer Berlin Heidelberg
    Other Version
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:326603
    Summary
    Chocolate has frequently been proposed to be a valuable source of dietary copper, but data on the copper content of major contemporary chocolate brands are scarce. The copper content of 22 brands of chocolate, many of which are sold worldwide, is thus presented here. A reliable hot ashing procedure to determine the copper content of chocolate by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy is also described. It was found that the copper contents of the chocolates analyzed here varied in the range of 1.85±0.10 to 16.50±1.29μg/g. There was a linear correlation of the copper content of chocolate to its cocoa content with a correlation coefficient R 2 of 0.89, showing that the copper was largely contributed to the chocolate by the cocoa. The value of chocolate as a source of dietary copper is discussed.