This paper examines decline in cocoa production at three historical moments: Trinidad in the early 18th century, Brazil in the first half of the 20th century, and Ghana in the recent transition from colonialism to independence. In each, decline followed promising expansion. Conventional explanations have been based on biological, agronomic, and market factors. Following a commodity systems appr...

The Ghana cocoa market has been extensively liberalised over the period since the mid 1980s. Three issues have been prominent in microeconomic research on the effects of liberalisation on agriculture. The first has been the size of any supply response, the second has been the effect on producers of reduced subsidies on inputs, and the third whether innovation has occurred. In this paper we inve...

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...

Polyphenols occurring in cocoa, coffee and tea can have a role in the prevention of cariogenic processes, due to their antibacterial action. Cocoa polyphenol pentamers significantly reduce biofilm formation and acid production by Streptococcus mutans and S. sanguinis. In the same way, trigonelline, caffeine and chlorogenic acid occurring in green and roasted coffee interfere with S. mutans adso...

Chocolate is derived from cocoa beans the fruit of the cacao tree or Theobroma cacao (the latin term: food of the gods). Recent published articles demonstrate that the quality and quantity of the antioxidants in cocoa and chocolate are very high and their flavonoids are believed to reduce the number of free radicals in the body that contribute to medical problems, such as cardiovascular disease...

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...