When it comes to taking care of your skin, cocoa butter is an effective emollient that can provide hydration and nutrients to dry skin, especially chapped hands or lips. Its consistency is solid when kept at room temperature, but it melts smoothly when applied to the skin. Moreover, it is packed with beneficial ingredients such as fatty acids, including oleic acid (35%), stearic acid (34%), and palmitic acid (25%), and it is also enriched with antioxidant vitamin E and polyphenols.
Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible fat extracted from the cocoa bean. It is used to make chocolate, as well as some ointments, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter has a cocoa flavor and aroma. Its melting point is slightly below human body temperature.
 Raw cocoa butter | |
| Fat composition | |
|---|---|
| Saturated fats | |
| Total saturated | 57–64%: stearic acid (24–37%), palmitic acid (24–30%), myristic acid, (0–4%), arachidic acid (1%), lauric acid (0–1%) |
| Unsaturated fats | |
| Total unsaturated | 36–43% |
| Monounsaturated | 29–43%: oleic acid (29–38%), palmitoleic acid (0–2%) |
| Polyunsaturated | 0–5%: linoleic acid (0–4%), α-Linolenic acid (0–1%) |
| Properties | |
| Food energy per 100 g (3.5 oz) | 3,699 kilojoules (884 kcal) |
| Melting point | 34.1 °C (93.4 °F), 35–36.5 °C (95.0–97.7 °F) |
| Solidity at 20 °C (68 °F) | solid |
| Refractive index | 1.44556–1.44573 |
| Iodine value | 32.11–35.12, 35.575 |
| Acid value | 1.68 |
| Saponification value | 191.214, 192.88–196.29 |
