Plants are considered the major sources of biologically active compounds, which provide unlimited opportunities for their use either as medical treatments or as novel drug formulations. Cocoa powder is frequently used in nutrition and is known to have many benefits thanks to its wide range of biological activities. The presented study was focused on th evaluation of the anti-inflammatory potential of extracts obtained from cocoa...

Numerous studies have shown, rather disappointingly, that isolated bioactive phytochemicals are not as biologically effective as natural plant products. Such a discrepancy may be explained by the concept of food synergy, which was verified in this research for cocoa extract versus its major components with regard to cancer chemoprevention. The evaluation embraced the relationship between redox properties evaluated in cell-free systems...

Cross-pollination of suitable genotypes and earlier selection of elite offspring using adequate plants-associated defence markers in plantlets leaves are decisive for development of T. cacao genotypes tolerant to black pods disease (BPD). T. cacao plantlets from manual cross-pollination of ♀SNK64 × ♂UPA143 were analyzed for their susceptibility to BPD using leaf disc test. Subsequently, leaves (healthy, wounded and wound+infected)...

Cocoa polyphenols play an important role in protection against diseases in which oxidative stress is implicated as a causal or contributing factor. The main aim of this study was to elucidate the influence of different cocoa extracts and main cocoa bioactive compound (–)-epicatechin on cell growth and support of antioxidant cellular barrier in colon adenocarcinoma cell line model (HT29). Results show that the tested cocoa bioactivity...