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Chocoholics worry no more – boffins at Bangor University may have come up with a solution to the chocolate crisis.

Researchers at the university have discovered that wild mango could be used as a possible healthier alternative to cocoa butter.

Global production of cocoa is in decline due to a combination of crop failure, disease and ageing plantations which have all led to high prices and a shortfall in supply.

Cocoa in decline

A recent study by postgraduate student at the School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography, Sayma Akhter, found that wild mango butter has similar qualities to cocoa, and is even superior in some aspects.

Senior author of the study Sayma said: “Wild mango is one of the so-called ‘cinderella’ species whose real potential is unrealised.

“The identification of real added value as we have shown in this study, could pluck it from obscurity into mainstream production.

“With the support of government and non-governmental organisations, small scale industries could be set up to create a new income source for local people.

“There are many other new products that can come from underutilised fruits which are still waiting for proper attention.”

High demand

Wild mango butter has a higher moisture content than cocoa butter, and a growing body of evidence shows that higher moisture content butters produce low fat chocolate which may help prevent obesity, heart diseases and diabetes .

The news will please the chocolate industry as demand for cocoa is predicted to rise by 30% by 2020, especially from the cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical industries.

The price of cocoa butter is one of the highest among all tropical fats and oils, and according to the International Cocoa Organisation the price more than doubled between 2005 and 2015.

Price more than doubled

Head of the School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography, and one of the report’s authors, Professor Morag McDonald said: “Going beyond the use to industry, wild fruits like the mango are an important source of food, medicine and income for rural dwellers, but are in decline due to drivers such as deforestation.

“Adding value to underutilised products through processing for products that have market value can generate a valuable incentive for the conservation of such species, and help to generate alternative income sources and reduce household poverty.”

Cocoa butter is the pure butter extracted from cocoa beans and it is the only commercially available natural fat rich with the right kind of fatty acids.