Theobromine

           Theobromine is a chemical compound that is one of approximately 300 compounds found in cocoa (Cacao Now, n.d., para. 5). Theobromine is also found in green and black tea. Its proper chemical name is 3,7-dimethylpurine-2,6-dione and its molecular formula is C₇H₈N₄O₂ (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2019).
 In its pure form, it is a white, odourless, bitter-tasting powder (Helmenstine, 2019).

Theobromine is naturally produced by the Theobroma cacao tree which can be found in South America and Africa. Once the cacao pods ripen, they are picked and laid out in the sun to dry and begin to ferment. Then they are roasted, and the shells are cracked open to reveal a chocolate nib. The nibs are extremely bitter and are shipped around the world to be further processed into various forms of chocolate. Once the nibs are processed into chocolate bars, there is no way to tell where on Earth they originated. Dark chocolate contains the highest concentration of theobromine (Labensky, Hause, Malley, Beavan, & Sicol, 2009, pp.749-752).

            According to researchers, pure theobromine is not known to cause cancer in humans or other animals. It will cause nausea, vomiting and a loss of appetite if it is eaten in relatively large quantities. For a human to die of theobromine poisoning, an average sized adult would have to eat 85 full size chocolate bars (Lewis, 2012).

If it is eaten by an animal, they can have similar digestive upsets as a human, plus more serious health changes like seizures, drooling, a dangerous drop in body temperature (hypothermia), coma, breathing difficulties, an increased heart rate and possibly death. Theobromine is especially dangerous to dogs (Lewis, 2012). A small dog who eats a dark chocolate bar is at risk of dying because dogs cannot process theobromine in their bodies as quickly as humans. The lowest measured dose which is fatal to a dog is16mg/kg.

But fear not! Chocolate in small quantities is safe and delicious. But the darker the chocolate, the more bitter it is.

Gieni, 2019. My daughter, Adriana, trying 90% cacao chocolate for the first time ever.

Gieni, 2019 Her opinion of 90% cacao chocolate.

References

Cacao now. (n.d.). Raw Ccacao Vitality Food. Retrieved October 6, 2019 from https://cacaonow.ca/cacao/

Helmenstine, A. (2019, March 14). The chemistry of theobromine. retrieved from 
            https://www.thoughtco.com/theobromine-chemistry-structure-606832

Labensky, S., Hause, A., Malley, F., Beavan, A., & Sicoli, S. (2009). Principles of the bakeshop. On Cooking: A textbook of culinary 
           fundamentals (4th ed., pp. 749-752). Toronto, Canada: Pearson.

  

Lewis, R. (2012). SAX’S dangerous properties of industrial materials (5th ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.

National Center for Biotechnology Information. (2019). Theobromine. PubChem Database. Retrieved October 6, 2019, 
           from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Theobromine