Abstract
Background: This manuscript describes the results of an HPLC study for the determination of the flavan-3-ol
monomers, (±)-catechin and (±)-epicatechin, in cocoa and plain dark and milk chocolate products. The study was
performed under the auspices of the National Confectioners Association (NCA) and involved the analysis of a series
of samples by laboratories of five member companies using a common method.
Methodology: The method reported in this paper uses reversed phase HPLC with fluorescence detection to
analyze (±)-epicatechin and (±)-catechin extracted with an acidic solvent from defatted cocoa and chocolate. In
addition to a variety of cocoa and chocolate products, the sample set included a blind duplicate used to assess
method reproducibility. All data were subjected to statistical analysis with outliers eliminated from the data set.
Results: The percent coefficient of variation (%CV) of the sample set ranged from approximately 7 to 15%.
Conclusions: Further experimental details are described in the body of the manuscript and the results indicate the
method is suitable for the determination of (±)-catechin and (±)-epicatechin in cocoa and chocolate products and
represents the first collaborative study of this HPLC method for these compounds in these matrices