A comparative study was carried out to determine the most suitable substrate for breeding of midges (Forcipomyia spp.) and the implications for pollination and yield in a typical cocoa production system in the forest ecological zone of Ghana. For the field experiment, the typically available substrates in cocoa farms which were used as the treatments under cocoa trees were: 1) rotten cocoa leaf...

BACKGROUND Studies suggest cardioprotective benefits of dark chocolate containing cocoa. OBJECTIVE This study examines the acute effects of solid dark chocolate and liquid cocoa intake on endothelial function and blood pressure in overweight adults. DESIGN Randomized, placebo-controlled, single-blind crossover trial of 45 healthy adults [mean age: 53 y; mean body mass index (in kg/m(2)): 30...

Selo District has great potential for developing plantation crops; however, the amount of production still needs to grow. The purpose this study is determine soil suitability class crops (arabica coffee, tobacco, cloves, cocoa, and tea), identify limiting factors in area, suggest ways overcome them increase land classes. was conducted District, Boyolali Regency from November 2022 - December 202...

In this article we present lead concentrations and isotopic compositions from analyses of cocoa beans, their shells, and soils from six Nigerian cocoa farms, and analyses of manufactured cocoa and chocolate products. The average lead concentration of cocoa beans was </= 0.5 ng/g, which is one of the lowest reported values for a natural food. In contrast, lead concentrations of manufactured coco...

Abstract The primary objective of this study was to establish a current situation assessment of the possible occurrence of deoxynivalenol in cocoa and cocoa products. Since there was no analytic method for determining DON in cocoa and cocoa products, a special method was developed. The applicability and consistency of the method was confirmed by performing recovery assays on various cocoa produ...

We determined the in vitro inhibitory effects of cocoa extracts and procyanidins against pancreatic α-amylase (PA), pancreatic lipase (PL) and secreted phospholipase A2 (PLA2), and characterized the kinetics of such inhibition. Lavado, regular and Dutch-processed cocoa extracts as well as cocoa procyanidins (degree of polymerization (DP) = 2 to 10) were examined. Cocoa extracts and procyanidins...

The inherent problems associated with inorganic fertilizer such as scarcity and high cost informed the invention of cocoa pod husk based organic fertilizer. The impact of the fertilizer on cocoa output is hereby investigated in this study. The study was conducted in Cross-River State, Nigeria and purposive random sampling technique was used to select fifty cocoa farmers including the user and n...

A study was undertaken to determine whether cocoa swollen shoot virus is transmitted by seeds, to improve the robustness of quarantine procedures for international exchange and long term conservation of cocoa germplasm. PCR/capillary electrophoresis, using cocoa swollen shoot virus primers designed from the most conserved regions of the six published cocoa genome sequences, allowed the detectio...

Plantation areas have the potential as a source of biological agents for entomopathogenic bacteria. This study aims to determine bacteria from various locations in plantation crop cultivation areas, and compare their North Kalimantan Province. carried out soil sampling, bacterial isolation, selection using insect baits. type research uses survey method on The was conducted at three locations, n...

Cocoa production is one of the leading causes deforestation in West Africa. Agroforestry cocoa systems are increasingly promoted as a possible solution to deforestation. This study seeks understand trade-offs within agroforestry full-sun and high-tech plantation Ghana. It uses secondary data collected from an extensive literature search. The results established various between yields other prov...