Cocoa has a rich history in human use. Skin is prone to the development of several diseases, and the mechanisms in the pathogenesis of aged skin are still poorly understood. However, a growing body of evidence from clinical and bench research has begun to provide scientific validation for the use of cocoa-derived phytochemicals as an effective approach for skin protection. Although the specific...

the effects of initial spacing layout on some allometric characteristics of 12-year-old quercus castaneifolia trees grown in central mazandaran, north of iran were examined. trees were planted in 5 different layouts (1?1, 1.5?1.5, 2?2.5, 2?3 and 4?4 m). tree height, diameter at breast height, natural pruning height and the survival of trees were recorded in each sample plot. tree basal area and...

Introduction. Ecuador occupies the fourth place in cocoa exports with 293,487 tons per year, produced on 559,617 hectares. However, its yield hectare is low mainly due to presence of pathogens that affect pods. Objective. To evaluates different methods control Theobroma cacao cv ‘CCN-51’ pod. Materials and methods. The work was carried out Luz de America, Santo Domingo los Tsachilas, Ecuador, b...

Flavanol-rich cocoa products have been reported to lower blood pressure. It has been suggested that theobromine is partially responsible for this effect. We tested whether consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa drinks with natural or added theobromine could lower peripheral and central blood pressure. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled 3-period crossover trial we assigned 42 healthy individuals ...

BACKGROUND The consumption of dietary antioxidants is considered to be a good strategy against photo-aging. However, the results of previous clinical trials that investigated the effects of oral consumption of high-flavanol cocoa products on skin photo-aging have been contradictory. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate whether high-flavanol cocoa supplementation would improve th...

Excessive peroxidation of biomembranes is thought to contribute to the initiation and progression of numerous degenerative diseases. The present study examined the inhibitory effects of a cocoa extract, individual cocoa flavanols (-)-epicatechin and (+)-catechin, and procyanidin oligomers (dimer to decamer) isolated from cocoa on rat erythrocyte hemolysis. In vitro, the flavanols and the procya...

Smallholding in the cocoa sector has been seen as a hindrance to production and productivity growth due to the ageing of the cocoa farmers, limited access to credit, low level of education and low adoptability of innovations. In order to curb this, policy makers have resorted to implementing policy instruments that encourage the extension of small rural farms into larger farms, thereby undermin...