Chocolate is very famous food in the whole world especially among the children.
Theobromine is one of the main constituent of chocolate and its powders. It is a stimulant and its
excessive use causes toxicity or poisoning to the human beings. In Pakistan consumption of
chocolate especially by children is very high so chances of chocolate poisoning are also very
high. Therefore this study was planned to determine the theobromine levels in locally available
chocolates and chocolate cakes in Pakistan. The research was carried out in the laboratories of
the Department of FSHN, UVAS, Lahore under the controlled conditions.
Sixty samples (40 chocolates, 20 chocolate cakes) of chocolates and chocolate cakes
were collected through random sampling technique from locally available super stores and
bakeries of Lahore City. The determinations of theobromine in chocolate were carried out
through UV spectrophotometric method. Absorption peaks were checked at the 272.7nm
wavelength and calculated using Beer’s law. Total sample were 180 and they were analyzed in
triplicates.
Data were analyzed through the Microsoft Excel 2010 and SPSS 22.0. Mean values with
standard deviation in percentages of results were analyzed by descriptive analyses. To examine
the relationship among the variables of chocolates and chocolate cakes chi-square test was used.
Further to compare theobromine levels in the local and branded chocolates obtained from the
common and renowned bakeries of Lahore, independent “t” test was used.
Summary
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The study concluded that local chocolates had more theobromine as compared to the
branded chocolates and common bakeries chocolate cakes less theobromine level than the
renowned bakeries chocolate cakes.
In the current study, mean values of theobromine ranged from 0.55 to 2.32 mg/g for
Haribo and Sonnet chocolate samples respectively. The percent safe level of various chocolate
samples showed that 45 % chocolates were at the safe level while 55 % unsafe. Similarly, mean
values of theobromine ranged from 0.58 to 2.27 mg/g for Sheraz Bakers chocolate cake and
Fresh Inn Baker chocolate brownie samples respectively. The percent safe level of various
chocolate cake samples showed that 80 % chocolate cakes were at the safe level while 20 %
unsafe.