Assessment of flavanol stereoisomers and caffeine and theobromine content in commercial chocolates.

Assessment of the flavanol composition of 41 commercial chocolates was by HPLC-DAD. Among individual flavonols ranged from 0.095 to 3.264mgg(-1), epicatechin was the predominant flavanol accounting for 32.9%. Contrary to catechin, epicatechin was a reliable predictive value of the polyphenol content. Conversely the percentage of theobromine used as a proxy measure for nonfat cocoa solids (NFCS) was not a good predictor of epicatechin or flavanol content. In a further chiral analysis, the naturally occurring forms of cocoa flavanols, (-)-epicatechin and (+)-catechin, was determined joint the occurrence of (+)-epicatechin and (-)-catechin due to the epimerization reactions produced in chocolate manufacture. (-)-Epicatechin, the most bioactive compound and predominant form accounted of 93%. However, no positive correlation was found with% cocoa solids, the most significant quality parameter.