In Ghana, cocoa production is a major economic activity among rural farmers. Its contributes significantly to the GDP and further, livelihood security enhancement folks. However, recent development has unveiled situation of persistent low farm-level productivity farmers which threatens their security. view this, we estimated economic, technical, allocative efficiencies determinants help proffer...

Cocoa contains high levels of different flavonoids. In the present study, the enantioseparation of catechin and epicatechin in cocoa and cocoa products by chiral capillary electrophoresis (CCE) was performed. A baseline separation of the catechin and epicatechin enantiomers was achieved by using 0.1 mol x L(-1) borate buffer (pH 8.5) with 12 mmol x L(-1) (2-hydroxypropyl)-gamma-cyclodextrin as ...

The free fatty acid (FFA) content in dry cocoa beans is expected to be less than 1.0% to meet the acceptable level of 1.75% in cocoa butter. This study therefore investigates the impact of insect infestation on FFA formation in raw cocoa beans in storage from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Hence, the effect of storage management on FFA content in dry cocoa beans is very important. The effect of insec...

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

Objective(s): To investigate the effect of cocoa on orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) rate, osteoprotegerin (OPG), and receptor activator of nuclear factor κ β ligand (RANKL) levels after OTM.Materials and Methods: A total of 24 Sprague-Dawley rats were included in the study. They were equally divided into two groups: cocoa and control. The upper incisors of all rats were subjected to 35 cN orth...

Cocoa is a food relatively rich in polyphenols, which makes it a potent antioxidant. Due to its activity as an antioxidant, as well as through other mechanisms, cocoa consumption has been reported to be beneficial for cardiovascular health, brain functions, and cancer prevention. Furthermore, cocoa influences the immune system, in particular the inflammatory innate response and the systemic and...