Chocolate
hideChocolate (pronounced /ˈtʃɒklət/ (help·info) or /-ˈələt/) comprises a number of raw and processed foods produced from the seed of the tropical cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America, with its earliest documented use around 1100 BC. The majority of the Mesoamerican peoples made chocolate beverages, including the Aztecs and the Maya, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor.
After fermentation, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted, and the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs. The nibs are then ground and liquified, resulting in pure chocolate in fluid form: chocolate liquor. The liquor can be further processed into two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Pure, unsweetened chocolate contains primarily cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, combining chocolate with sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. "White chocolate" contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk but no cocoa solids (and thus does not qualify to be considered true chocolate).
Chocolate contains alkaloids such as theobromine and phenethylamine, which have physiological effects on the body. It has been linked to serotonin levels in the brain. Scientists claim that chocolate, eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure. Dark chocolate has recently been promoted for its health benefits, including a substantial amount of antioxidants that reduce the formation of free radicals, though the presence of theobromine renders it toxic to some animals, such as dogs and cats.
Chocolate has become one of the most popular flavors in the world. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain holidays: chocolate bunnies and eggs are popular on Easter, chocolate coins on Hanukkah, Santa Claus and other holiday symbols on Christmas, and hearts on Valentine's Day. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, to produce chocolate milk and hot chocolate.
For more information about Chocolate, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with chocolate
Chocolate rich in flavanols may protect the skin from UV
Nov 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study has discovered for the first time that dark chocolate rich in flavanols may provide significant protection from the harmful effects of ultraviolet light.
Scientists unveil chocolate-fueled race car
May 05, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Scientists unveiled on Tuesday what they hope will be one of the world's fastest biofuel vehicles, powered by waste from chocolate factories and made partly from plant fibers.
New evidence that dark chocolate helps ease emotional stress
Nov 11, 2009 |
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The "chocolate cure" for emotional stress is getting new support from a clinical trial published online in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research.
Chocolate, wine and tea improve brain performance
Dec 22, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- All that chocolate might actually help finish the bumper Christmas crossword over the seasonal period. According to Oxford researchers working with colleagues in Norway, chocolate, wine and ...
Expel chocolate milk from school lunches: activist
Dec 10, 2009 |
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Chocolate milk is "soda in drag" and should be booted out of US school cafeterias, a former celebrity chef turned school lunch lady has said.
Chocolate cuts death rate in heart attack survivors: study
Aug 13, 2009 |
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Heart attack survivors who eat chocolate two or more times per week cut their risk of dying from heart disease about threefold compared to those who never touch the stuff, scientists have reported.
Eating sweets every day in childhood 'increases adult aggression'
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Oct 01, 2009 |
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Children who eat sweets and chocolate every day are more likely to be violent as adults, according to new research.
Chocolate, water reduce pain response to heat
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 13, 2009 |
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People often eat food to feel better, but researchers have found that eating chocolate or drinking water can blunt pain, reducing a rat's response to a hot stimulus. This natural form of pain relief may help ...
Sick of the same old thing? Researchers finds satiation solution
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
May 19, 2009 |
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Have you ever gotten sick of pizza, playing the same computer game, or had a song stuck in your head for so long you never wanted to hear it again? If you have, you may suffer from variety amnesia. In new research, Joseph ...
Research Team Finds Evidence Cacao Ritually Used in Chaco Canyon
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Feb 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Inhabitants of Chaco Canyon apparently drank chocolate from cylinders like these about a thousand years ago. That’s the finding in a paper published this week by PNAS, a publication of the ...
Study shows flavanol antioxidant content of US chocolate and cocoa-containing products
Nov 25, 2009 |
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A recent study confirms that the antioxidants and other plant-based nutrients in chocolate and cocoa products are highly associated with the amount of non-fat cocoa-derived ingredients in the product. The study expands on ...
Heart group: Cut back - way back - on extra sugar
Aug 24, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A spoonful of sugar? Americans are swallowing 22 teaspoons of sugar each day, and it's time to cut way back, the American Heart Association says.
Just expecting a tasty food activates brain reward systems
Jul 27, 2009 |
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Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, shows that exposing rats to a context ...
World-first sustainable racing car to take on Formula 3 at Brands Hatch (w/ Video)
Oct 05, 2009 |
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Can the idea of 'green motorsport' actually work? Yes, according to Dr Kerry Kirwan at the University of Warwick, who led the research team which designed and built the worldfirst fully sustainable Formula 3 racing car.
Wanted: British women to eat chocolate for a year
Jul 23, 2009 |
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Scientists in Britain are looking for women willing to eat chocolate every day for a year -- all in the name of medical science.
