Cocoa beans from several types of post harvest treatments were processed into cocoa butter, cocoa powder and chocolate spread using traditional processing techniques. OTA was analyzed in two hundred and sixteen (216) samples of cocoa and cocoa derived products using HPLC with fluorimetric detection. It was found that OTA content in cocoa nibs depended only on the state of cocoa pod and the time...

Group dynamics features are important factors for improving farmers’ socio-economic status. This study focused on the effect of group dynamics features on the socio-economic status of cocoa farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 93 cocoa farmers for the study. Descriptive statistics and linear regression were used to analyze the data. Results showed ...

Cocoa and cocoa products have received much attention due to their significant polyphenol contents. Cocoa and cocoa products, namely cocoa liquor, cocoa powder and chocolates (milk and dark chocolates) may present varied polyphenol contents and possess different levels of antioxidant potentials. For the past ten years, at least 28 human studies have been conducted utilizing one of these cocoa p...

The determination of the occurrence and level of cocoa shells in cocoa products and chocolate is an important analytical issue. The recent European Union directive on cocoa and chocolate products (2000/36/EC) has not retained the former limit of a maximum amount of 5% of cocoa shells in cocoa nibs (based on fat-free dry matter), previously authorized for the elaboration of cocoa products such a...

The coiled-coil coactivator (CoCoA) is a transcriptional coactivator for nuclear receptors and enhances nuclear receptor function by the interaction with the bHLH-PAS domain (AD3) of p160 coactivators. The C-terminal activation domain (AD) of CoCoA possesses strong transactivation activity and is required for the coactivator function of CoCoA with nuclear receptors. To understand how CoCoA AD t...

An inverse relation exists between intake of flavonoid-rich foods, such as cocoa, and cardiovascular-related mortality. Favorable effects of flavonoids on the endothelium may underlie these associations. We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to test the hypothesis that acute cocoa ingestion dose dependently increases endothelium-dependent vasodilation, as measured by...

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...

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...