一些公司在實(shí)驗(yàn)室中培育可可豆生產(chǎn)巧克力

Climate change pressures have led some companies to try growing cocoa in new environments to produce chocolate.
Some of the companies have set up growing operations in laboratories to produce cocoa from cell cultures. Others are experimenting with non-cocoa substances in an effort to create chocolate alternatives.
Higher temperatures worldwide have made it harder to grow cocoa beans in traditional rainforest environments. But worldwide demand remains high for chocolate. So, scientists and businesses are looking to create new products to meet that demand.
California Cultured is a plant cell culture company based in West Sacramento, California. It is growing cocoa from cell cultures inside a lab and plans to start selling its products next year. The process involves putting cocoa bean cells in a container with sugar water. This helps them quickly reproduce and mature.
Alan Perlstein, chief executive of California Cultured, spoke to the Associated Press. He said his company's process can produce a harvest in just one week. This compares to six to eight weeks for a traditional harvest. He said the method also uses a lot less water and labor than harvesting cocoa beans in a field.
Perlstein said he sees the demand for chocolate continuing to increase, while the supply decreases. Using alternative processing methods might be the only way to increase the supply of cocoa without causing environmental harm or greatly increasing costs, he said.
Cocoa trees grow about 20 degrees north and south of the equator in areas with warm weather and a lot of rain. But scientists fear further climate change will dry out the land in such areas.
The worldwide market for chocolate is huge. The chocolate market for candy worldwide reached $238.5 billion in 2023, research website Statista reports. Sales in the United States alone reached more than $25 billion in 2023, the National Confectioners Association said. The trade organization represents the candy industry.
The price of cocoa increased earlier this year because of rising demand and West African crop losses from plant disease and weather changes. West Africa produces most of the world's cocoa.
Carla D. Martin is executive director of the U.S.-based Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute. She told the AP that drops in the world cocoa supply have led some companies to look for ways to replace the ingredient that produces the taste of chocolate.
Planet A Foods is once such company in Planegg, Germany. It believes the taste of mass market chocolate is created not only by the bean itself, but also how it is fermented and cooked.
The company has tested out many ingredients, from olives to seaweed, to find a possible substitute. It is currently using a mix of oats and sunflower seeds as the best tasting chocolate alternative, said company spokesperson Jessica Karch. Planet A Foods calls the product “ChoViva,” which can be used in place of other ingredients in baked goods.
“The idea is not to replace the high quality, 80 percent dark chocolate, but really to have a lot of different products in the mass market,” Karch told the AP.
Similar efforts can be found in Israel. One company there, Celleste Bio, is taking cocoa bean cells and growing them indoors to produce cocoa powder and cocoa butter.
The company's co-founder, Hanne Volpin, said that within a few years the company aims to be able to produce cocoa no matter what the situation is with climate change and disease. Volpin added, “We only have a small field, but eventually, we will have a farm of bioreactors.”
氣候變化的壓力導(dǎo)致一些公司嘗試在新的環(huán)境中種植可可來生產(chǎn)巧克力。
一些公司已經(jīng)在實(shí)驗(yàn)室里建立了種植業(yè)務(wù)，從細(xì)胞培養(yǎng)中生產(chǎn)可可。其他公司則在嘗試使用非可可物質(zhì)來制造巧克力替代品。
全球氣溫升高使得在傳統(tǒng)雨林環(huán)境中種植可可豆變得更加困難。但全球?qū)η煽肆Φ男枨笕匀缓芨摺Ｒ虼?，科學(xué)家和企業(yè)正在尋求創(chuàng)造新產(chǎn)品來滿足這一需求。
California culture是一家位于加州西薩克拉門托的植物細(xì)胞培養(yǎng)公司。該公司正在實(shí)驗(yàn)室里通過細(xì)胞培養(yǎng)種植可可，并計(jì)劃明年開始銷售其產(chǎn)品。這個(gè)過程包括將可可豆細(xì)胞放入一個(gè)裝有糖水的容器中。這有助于它們快速繁殖和成熟。
Alan Perlstein是California culture的首席執(zhí)行官，他接受了美聯(lián)社的采訪。他說，他的公司的方法可以在一周內(nèi)收獲。相比之下，傳統(tǒng)的收獲需要6到8周。他說，這種方法比在田間收獲可可豆所用的水和勞動(dòng)力要少得多。
珀?duì)査固拐f，他認(rèn)為巧克力的需求將繼續(xù)增加，而供應(yīng)將減少。他說，使用替代加工方法可能是增加可可供應(yīng)而不造成環(huán)境危害或大幅增加成本的唯一途徑。
可可樹生長在赤道南北大約20度的區(qū)域內(nèi)，這些地區(qū)氣候溫暖且降雨充沛。但是科學(xué)家們擔(dān)心，進(jìn)一步的氣候變化會(huì)導(dǎo)致這些地區(qū)的土地干涸。
巧克力的全球市場是巨大的。研究網(wǎng)站Statista報(bào)告稱，2023年全球糖果巧克力市場規(guī)模達(dá)到2385億美元。美國糖果協(xié)會(huì)(National candies Association)表示，僅在美國，2023年的銷售額就超過了250億美元。這個(gè)貿(mào)易組織代表糖果行業(yè)。
今年早些時(shí)候，可可豆價(jià)格上漲，原因是需求上升，以及西非作物因植物病害和天氣變化而損失。西非出產(chǎn)世界上大部分的可可。
卡拉·d·馬丁(Carla D. Martin)是總部位于美國的優(yōu)質(zhì)可可和巧克力研究所的執(zhí)行董事。她告訴美聯(lián)社，全球可可供應(yīng)的下降導(dǎo)致一些公司尋找替代巧克力味道的原料。
位于德國Planegg的Planet A Foods曾經(jīng)就是這樣一家公司。該公司認(rèn)為，大眾市場巧克力的味道不僅取決于可可豆本身，還取決于它的發(fā)酵和烹飪方式。
該公司已經(jīng)測試了從橄欖到海藻等多種成分，以尋找可能的替代品。公司發(fā)言人杰西卡·卡奇說，公司目前正在使用燕麥和葵花籽的混合物作為最美味的巧克力替代品。Planet A Foods將這種產(chǎn)品稱為“ChoViva”，它可以代替烘焙食品中的其他成分。
卡奇在接受美聯(lián)社采訪時(shí)表示:“我們的想法不是要取代高質(zhì)量的黑巧克力，而是要在大眾市場上推出許多不同的產(chǎn)品。”
在以色列也可以看到類似的努力。當(dāng)?shù)匾患颐麨镃elleste Bio的公司正在提取可可豆細(xì)胞，并在室內(nèi)種植，以生產(chǎn)可可粉和可可脂。
該公司的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人漢內(nèi)·沃爾平（Hanne Volpin）表示，公司目標(biāo)是在幾年內(nèi)無論氣候變化和疾病的情況如何，都能夠生產(chǎn)可可。沃爾平補(bǔ)充說：“我們現(xiàn)在只有一小塊試驗(yàn)田，但最終，我們將擁有一個(gè)生物反應(yīng)器農(nóng)場?！?br>