From table 2 of the Andres-Lacueva et al. article, we read the following relevant details:
- Mean Epicatechin concentration in natural cocoa powder (n=10): 1909 ± 95 µg/g
- Mean Epicatechin concentration in alkalinized cocoa powder (n=10): 623 ± 27 µg/g
Which means, on the average, that the alkalinized products have one third the epicatechins of the natural products.
Also:
- Mean Catechin concentration in natural cocoa powder (n=10): 614 ± 20 µg/g
- Mean Catechin concentration in alkalinized cocoa powder (n=10): 382 ± 30 µg/g
Which means, on the average, that the alkalinized products have two thirds the catechins of the natural products.
the alkalinization process used by the authors is described in the article and is probably meant to reflect the industrial alkalinization processes.
Now, the above may answer to my question: is it worth to spend much money in raw cocoa? Probably not, since by eating three teaspoons of alkalinized cocoa powder I'm going to have probably the same amount of epicatechins and a higner amount of catechins. Of course, other factors might be involved, for example, if the expensive raw cocoa is really raw ground cocoa beans, then I may expect the presence of some compounds which have been degraded by the extraction of the so called cocoa liquor.
Actually, the product's specifications are that it is made out of organic unroasted cocoa beans treated at temperatures lower than 47 Celsius. So probably there are some advantages to it and it may be worth to spend some time looking for less expensive brands of raw cocoa powder.
Edit: after 2 minutes of google search I already found that I can order online a very similar product (apparently exactly the same Ecuadorian cultivar with a different brand), at less than a quarter the price: 40 EUro/US$ per kg instead than 100 EUro/US$ per kg. The strategy starts to be feasible...
Edited by mccoy, 10 March 2017 - 10:55 PM.