The levels of cadmium, lead, copper and arsenic were determined in two batches of raw cocoa and semifinished chocolate products sampled at various intermediate stages of the manufacturing process. The metal contents of eighteen chocolate bars produced by four chocolate making factories were also determined. A nalyses of the metal contents in cocoa containing samples were effected by dry ashing ...

Distributed optimization methods for large-scale machine learning suffer from a communication bottleneck. It is difficult to reduce this bottleneck while still efficiently and accurately aggregating partial work from different machines. In this paper, we present a novel generalization of the recent communication-efficient primal-dual framework (COCOA) for distributed optimization. Our framework...

Monomeric and oligomeric procyanidins present in cocoa and chocolate were separated and identified using a modified normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method coupled with on-line mass spectrometry (MS) analysis using an atmospheric pressure ionization electrospray chamber. The chromatographic separation was achieved using a silica stationary phase in combination with a g...

Raw cocoa has an astringent, unpleasant taste and flavour, and has to be fermented, dried and roasted in order to obtain the characteristic cocoa flavour and taste. During the fermentation microbial activity outside the cocoa beans induces biochemical and physical changes inside the beans. The process is complex involving activity of several different groups of microorganisms which bring about ...

BACKGROUND Cocoa flavanols may improve cardiometabolic health. Evidence from small short-term randomized clinical trials (RCTs) remains inconsistent, and large long-term RCTs testing the efficacy of cocoa flavanols are still lacking. OBJECTIVE We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs to quantify the effect of cocoa flavanol intake on cardiometabolic biomarkers. METHODS We ...

BACKGROUND Flavonoids may be partly responsible for some health benefits, including antiinflammatory action and a decreased tendency for the blood to clot. An acute dose of flavanols and oligomeric procyanidins from cocoa powder inhibits platelet activation and function over 6 h in humans. OBJECTIVE This study sought to evaluate whether 28 d of supplementation with cocoa flavanols and related...

Flavonoids isolated from cocoa have biological activities relevant to oxidant defenses, vascular health, tumor suppression, and immune function. The intake of certain dietary flavonoids, along with other dietary substances such as tocopherols, ascorbate, and carotenoids, is epidemiologically associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Flavonoids have also been shown to modulate tu...

Introduction: Rapid identification of cocoa bean varieties is vital for the authentication in cocoa trade. This paper examines the use of Near Infrared (NIR) Spectroscopy for nondestructive identification of cocoa bean cultivars. Methods: In this study, five cocoa bean cultivars (IMC85 x IMC47, PA7 x PA150, PA150 x Pound7, Pd10 x Pd15 and T63/967 x T65/238) were scanned in the NIR range of 1000...

Theobroma cacao-The Food of the Gods, provides the raw material for the multibillion dollar chocolate industry and is also the main source of income for about 6 million smallholders around the world. Additionally, cocoa beans have a number of other nonfood uses in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Specifically, the potential health benefits of cocoa have received increasing attention ...

BACKGROUND Cocoa flavanols have strong anti-inflammatory properties in vitro. If these also occur in vivo, cocoa consumption may contribute to the prevention or treatment of diseases mediated by chronic inflammation. This critical review judged the evidence for such effects occurring after cocoa consumption. METHODS A literature search in Medline was performed for randomized controlled trials...