The purposeful application of fermentation in food and beverage preparation, as a means to
provide palatability, nutritional value, preservative, and medicinal properties, is an ancient …

Molecular analyses are providing new elements to decipher the origin, domestication and
dispersal of native Amazonian crops in an expanding archaeological context. Solid …

Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is an important economic crop, yet studies of its domestication
history and early uses are limited. Traditionally, cacao is thought to have been first …

We sequenced and assembled the draft genome of Theobroma cacao, an economically
important tropical-fruit tree crop that is the source of chocolate. This assembly corresponds …

Epidemiological data demonstrate that regular dietary intake of plant-derived foods and
beverages reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Among many ingredients …

Research published in this special issue on cocoa agroforestry illustrates the multifunctional
role of shade trees for sustaining cocoa production and improving farmers' livelihoods, and …

Cocoa beans are rich source of polyphenols, contributing about 10% of the dry weight of the
whole bean and its derivative chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, is considered one of the …

Mass spectrometry (MS) is an essential tool in the field of biomolecular archeology to
characterize amorphous organic residues preserved in ancient ceramic vessels. Animal fats …

Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is indigenous to the Amazon basin, but is generally believed
to have been domesticated in Mesoamerica for the production of chocolate beverage …

The analysis of lipids and other biomolecules preserved in archaeological artefacts, using
chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques, is a powerful approach, which has …