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Chocolate Fads
Published in Linda K. Fuller, Chocolate Fads, Folklore, & Fantasies, 2020
Walter Baker Company, which established the first chocolate factory in the United States in 1765, produced several publications, including: The Chocolate-Plant (Theobroma Cacao) and Its Products, 891.Cocoa and Chocolate: A Short History of Their Production and Use, 1910.Cocoa and Chocolate Exhibits, 1915.
Natural Products and Stem Cells and Their Commercial Aspects in Cosmetics
Published in Heather A.E. Benson, Michael S. Roberts, Vânia Rodrigues Leite-Silva, Kenneth A. Walters, Cosmetic Formulation, 2019
Sonia Trehan, Rose Soskind, Jemima Moraes, Vinam Puri, Bozena Michniak-Kohn
Butters are triglycerides that generally have a titer point between 20°C and 40.5°C, at which the mixture of fatty acids solidifies. Cocoa butter (Theobroma cacao) is used as an emollient in topical cosmetic formulations, and recently has been recognized as a good source of natural antioxidants (Fankem et al., 2017). South America and the Brazilian rainforest offer various plants with common butters used in the industry that include cocoa butter extracted from the cocoa bean (Theobroma cacao), cupuaçu butter from the related Theobrama grandiflorum tree and murumuru butter from the murumuru palm tree (Astrocaryum murumuru). India is another source of many butters used in cosmetic products, including kokum butter extracted from the seeds of the Garcinia indica tree, mango butter from the Mangifera indica tree and shea butter derived from the Butyrospermum parkii tree. Interestingly, shea butter is considered an antioxidant and is believed to include the compound allantoin that contributes to shea butter’s medicinal properties including wound healing as well as reduction of rheumatic pains and inflammation (O’Lenick et al., 2008).
Biogenic Amines in Plant Food
Published in Akula Ramakrishna, Victoria V. Roshchina, Neurotransmitters in Plants, 2018
Kamil Ekici, Abdullah Khalid Omer
Cacao, designated Theobroma cacao by the eighteenth-century botanist, Carolus Linnaeus, is an important Neotropical, perennial crop, on which the thriving global chocolate industry is based. Cacao’s putative center of genetic diversity is at the headwaters of the Amazon River, South America, and it is indigenous to the Amazon and Orinoco rainforests. Cacao was the Aztec word for chocolate and Theobroma means Food of the Gods, in keeping with the Aztecs’ regard for the drink they made from cacao seeds (Badrie et al., 2015).
Health effects, sources, utilization and safety of tannins: a critical review
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2021
Kartik Sharma, Vikas Kumar, Jaspreet Kaur, Beenu Tanwar, Ankit Goyal, Rakesh Sharma, Yogesh Gat, Ashwani Kumar
The chief sources of tannins are kola nuts (Cola vera), guarana (Paulliniacupana), tea (Camellia sinensis), coffee (Coffea spp.), cocoa (Theobroma cacao). Various fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, herbs, forages, condiments and spices are also known to be good sources of tannins (Hassanpour et al.2011). It is widely distributed all over the kingdom Plantae, majorly among trees (higher plants), herbs, shrubs, legumes, etc. whereas, lower plants such as mosses, fungi and algae do possess tannin but in trace amounts (Ashok and Upadhyaya 2012). Tannins are reported to be present in plants adapted to warm climates and possess broader leaves, such as sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), Sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata), etc. Few parts of some plants are also reported to have a significant amount of the tannins such as leaves (White clover i.e. Trifolium repens) and seed coat (Alfalfa i.e. Medicago sativa) (MacAdam et al.2013). The location of tannin varies from crop to crop, and can be found in leaves or roots or stem or fruits or peel or seeds or shell or bark, etc. (Table 1).
Cocoa beans improve mitochondrial biogenesis via PPARγ/PGC1α dependent signalling pathway in MPP+ intoxicated human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y)†
Published in Nutritional Neuroscience, 2020
Saravana Babu Chidambaram, Abid Bhat, Bipul Ray, Mani Sugumar, Serva Peddha Muthukumar, Thamilarasan Manivasagam, Arokiasamy Justin Thenmozhi, Musthafa Mohamed Essa, Gilles J. Guillemin, Meena Kishore Sakharkar
Theobroma cacao (family: Malvaceae) commonly known as “cocoa” has often been referred to as the “Food of the Gods”. Cocoa is rich in fats (∼50%), proteins, carbohydrates (∼20–25%), nitrogenous elements such as theobromine (∼2.0% to 3.0%), caffeine (∼0.2%)1. The association between cocoa consumption and affective disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety has been reviewed2. Cocoa has been shown to exert beneficial effects in various experimental neurological investigations on Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, depression, and epilepsy3–7. It is a rich source of polyphenols that have pleiotropic effects on various disease-relevant biological pathways. Some significant cognitive benefits and neuroprotective potential of (poly) phenols have been demonstrated8–11. Some of the polyphenols identified in cocoa beans include catechins, flavonol glycosides, anthocyanins and procyanidins12–16. Although, the molecular mechanisms behind the neuroprotective actions of (poly)phenols remain to be elucidated, recent investigations suggest that modulation of inflammation by small molecules derived from dietary (poly)phenols which may cross the BBB and reach brain cells, may be involved in the alleviation of neurodegenerative diseases 17–19. Giacometti et al investigated the therapeutic effects of cocoa polyphenols on acute carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-intoxicated mice and reported that cocoa polyphenols suppress hepatotoxicity, are anti-inflammatory, have anti-oxidant activity, improve glucose metabolism, exhibit early stage antifibrotic and anticarcinogenic effects and beneficially affect the mitochondrial functionality by modulating mitochondrial respiration20.
A review of the ethnopharmacological significance of Momordica foetida Schumach. (Cucurbitaceae: Cucurbitales)
Published in Egyptian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 2023
Yusuf Ola Mukaila, Abdulwadud Abiodun Ajao, Abdulwakeel Ayokun-nun Ajao
Ethnobotany involves the scientific study of the traditional uses of plants by indigenous people. In addition to medicinal uses, ethnobotany includes uses such as food, crafts, ritual and veterinary. M. foetida has been implicated to be used for several medicinal and non-medicinal uses. For example, in East and Central Africa, the aqueous leaf extract of M. foetida is used in the treatment of malaria [7,24], this same extract is used for cough and vomiting in some parts of Uganda [8] and also for expelling worms [25] and stomach ache [9], while the leaf decoction is used to treat tuberculosis [26]. The leaf decoction is also taken orally to treat diabetes in the lower Eastern Province of Kenya [10]. In Dek Island of Ethiopia, the leaf and stem of the plant are boiled in water and the steam is inhaled during bedtime to treat febrile illnesses [27]. In Polokwane, South Africa, leaf decoction is used to treat hypertension [28]. While the majority of the information on M. foetida points to its numerous ethnomedicinal uses, there are other uses in some parts of Africa that have been reported. In West Africa, many indigenous people consider the presence of this plant an indication that the land will be suitable for growing cocoa (Theobroma cacao) [6]. Even though the leaves are bitter, it has been reported to be eaten as vegetables in countries like Gabon, Malawi, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda [4] confirming its widespread in the tropics while the pulps of ripe fruit are eaten in Tanzania [29]. There are also magical uses reported, for example, in the case of an epidemic, the roots and leaves are powdered and sprinkled on burning charcoal, the smoke is then inhaled to be immune to the disease [27]. Other uses include insecticides [30] and fattening rabbits [5,31]. Table 1 shows a summary of all ethnobotanical uses of M. foetida.