Cocoa bean shell (CBS) is the film that covers the cocoa bean. Samples of CBS were obtained directly from an industrial plant supplied by cocoa plantations growing cocoa plants made up of the open-pollinated cultivars “Trinitario” and “Forastero”. Two types of CBS were classified according to color, green-yellowish (GY) and red-orange (RO), and samples of each were collected, sieved with a 10 mesh and ground to obtain particles of ≤ 10 mm. Samples of both CBS types were defatted with n-hexane, dried and extracted with 1:1 ethanol:water and then purified with 7:3 ethanol:water, filtered and recrystallized with 5:1 acetone:water. The polyphenol and proanthocyanidin content and chemical composition were determined by HPLC. The phenols in both types of CBS (GY and RO) were similar. The phenolics found in both extracts of purified CBS were quercetin, catechin and epicatechin. Phenolic extracts of CBS have shown levels of oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPC) equivalent to grape seed extract and significantly high values of catechin and epicatechin. These results indicate the broad possibilities of CBS as an additive to increase the nutritional characteristics of many food products for human consumption.