History of Cocoa Butter

Contributor

By Miriam Berger
eHow Contributing Writer

Article Rating:

(0 Ratings)

Cocoa butter is used in thousands of products, including chocolate, soaps, suntan lotions, moisturizers, shampoos and hair conditioners. A whitish-yellow, creamy substance, cocoa butter is extracted directly from the cocoa bean during manufacturing of chocolate.

First Records

First records of cocoa trees are from around 1000 BC. The Indians of South America were the first to use the cocoa tree.

Mayans and Aztecs

Frequent use of the cocoa tree and chocolate is apparent among the ruins of the ancient Mayan and Aztecs civilizations. Mayans were the first to cultivate chocolate, from the cacao (which they called "Xoacoatl") tree.

Hernando Cortez

Hernando Cortez brought chocolate to Europe from Mexico, after the Mexican conquest of 1519. Cacao trees were planted and migrated to the east and eventually chocolate became an international treat.

Medicinial Use

Around 1570, chocolate was found to have medicinal properties, but cocoa butter was not discovered for three hundred more years.

Invention of the Cocoa Press

Dutch chemist Coenraad Van Houten perfected methods of producing chocolate. He also invented the cocoa press in 1828, which extracted cocoa butter from the bean, and created a purer form of chocolate.

Coppertone

In 1944, pharmacist Benjamin Green invented a product to darken sun tans. He combined cocoa butter with jasmine, and Coppertone was born. Cocoa butter soon became a common product in skin care and remains so today.