• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.492-500
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• 2012

Cocoa is a popular drink for children and contains healthy polyphenols however; a deep brown stain is left when cocoa is spilled over clothes. The main pigments in cocoa are anthocyanins that change in washing solutions with different alkalinity and metals. The removal and color changes in a cocoa stain after washing with various pH solutions and water hardness were studied. Alkalinity and the water hardness of washing solutions were important factors for the removal of cocoa stains. The removal of cocoa things in washing solutions without detergent was low (and even became negative after removal and darker) in solutions with a pH 9 and above. The cocoa stain was not removed and only the fabric color faded, although the cocoa stained cloth was washed with Korea tap water that has a pH of 7. The cocoa stain removal in detergent solutions was conspicuously higher than for only water. Even in detergent solutions, the cocoa stain removal decreased as water hardness increased. Cocoa stain removal was more effective and the color dimmest when the stained cloth was washed in a solution without the metal cations, and the bleach added with the detergent at a temperature of $40^{\circ}C$ and for longer than 20 minutes. Effective and economical equipment for tap water softening for a washing machine should be developed and used to improve cocoa stain removal.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.343-350
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• 2015

Cocoa pod is among the by-products of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) plantations. The aim of this study was to apply a number of treatments in order to improve nutritional quality of cocoa pod for feeding of ruminants. Cocoa pod was subjected to different treatments, i.e. C (cocoa pod without any treatment or control), CAm (cocoa pod+1.5% urea), CMo (cocoa pod+3% molasses), CRu (cocoa pod+3% rumen content) and CPh (cocoa pod+3% molasses+Phanerochaete chrysosporium inoculum). Analysis of proximate and Van Soest's fiber fraction were performed on the respective treatments. The pods were then subjected to an in vitro digestibility evaluation by incubation in rumen fluid-buffer medium, employing a randomized complete block design (n = 3 replicates). Further, an in vivo evaluation of the pods (35% inclusion level in total mixed ration) was conducted by feeding to young Holstein steers (average body weight of $145{\pm}3.6kg$) with a $5{\times}5$ latin square design arrangement (n = 5 replicates). Each experimental period lasted for 30 d; the first 20 d was for feed adaptation, the next 3 d was for sampling of rumen liquid, and the last 7 d was for measurements of digestibility and N balance. Results revealed that lignin content was reduced significantly when cocoa pod was treated with urea, molasses, rumen content or P. chrysosporium (p<0.01) with the following order of effectiveness: CPh>CAm>CRu>CMo. Among all treatments, CAm and CPh treatments significantly improved the in vitro dry matter and organic matter digestibility (p<0.05) of cocoa pod. Average daily gain of steers receiving CAm or CPh treatment was significantly higher than that of control (p<0.01) with an increase of 105% and 92%, respectively. Such higher daily gain was concomitant with higher N retention and proportion of N retention to N intake in CAm and CPh treatments than those of control (p<0.05). It can be concluded from this study that treatment with either urea or P. chrysosporium is effective in improving the nutritive value of cocoa pod.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.75-79
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• 1989

The rheological properties of sugar and cocoa particle suspensions in cocoa butter under molten condition were analyzed with Haake rotationary viscometer. Both suspensions had yield value and showed rheopexy at low shear rate and thixotropy at high shear rate. Flow behaviors of the suspensions were analyzed with modified Casson model. Casson viscosity and yield value increased with increasing the concentration of sugar and cocoa particles. There was an obvious dependence of the Casson viscosity and yield value on the particle size distributions that was represented by the Sauter mean diameter of the particles. Casson viscosity and yield value of cocoa butter-sugar suspension increased with increasing the fineness of sugar particle crystal. With increasing the fineness of cocoa particle a decreasing Casson viscosity of cocoa butter-cocoa particle suspension was achieved, but the yield value did not change significantly with cocoa particle size. Therefore, it was predicted that the best rheological properties of chocolate could be obtained with the combination of coarse ground sugar $(d=36.30{\mu}m)$ and fine ground cocoa particle $(d=14.81{\mu}m)$ within the studied range.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.634-639
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• 2000

This study was done to determine the changes in physicochemical components focused on the general compositions, pH, titratable acidity, organic acids, color and sugars during the microwave roasting of cocoa mass and to compare the changes with those during a conventional roasting. The cocoa mass was microwave-roasted at 110 to $150^{circ}C$ and for 10 to 40 min or conventionally roasted at $140^{circ}C$ for 30 min. General compositions of microwave-roasted cocoa mass were not different from those of raw cocoa mass or conventionally-roasted one. The pH changes did not affect the changes in titratable acidity or organic acids. Titratable acidity was different among the three samples. Microwave-roasted cocoa mass showed less sufficient effects on removing organic acids and less changes in color. Fructose, glucose and maltose decreased during a roasting but sucrose showed little changes.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.228-240
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Cocoa consumption is associated with health benefits due to its high content of polyphenols. However, the effects of short-term cocoa consumption remain unclear. We aimed to determine the effects generated by cocoa consumption (for 7 days) in young adults in normoweight and class II obesity. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Before-and-after study was carried out in normoweight (NW) (n = 15) and class II obesity (CIIO) (n = 15) young adults. The NW and CIIO participants consumed 25 and 39 g of cocoa, respectively, per day for 7 days. The effect of cocoa consumption was evaluated on the lipid profile, insulin resistance (IR), and inflammation. Oxidative damage was also examined by assessing the biomarkers of oxidative damage in plasma. In addition, recombinant human insulin was incubated with blood obtained from the participants, and the molecular damage to the hormone was analyzed. RESULTS: Cocoa consumption resulted in decreased low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol in both groups (P = 0.04), while the total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were maintained at the recommended levels. Initially, IR was detected in the CIIO group (homeostasis model assessment [HOMA] = 4.78 ± 0.4), which is associated with molecular damage to insulin. Interestingly, intervention with cocoa resulted in improved IR (HOMA = 3.14 ± 0.31) (P = 0.0018) as well as molecular damage to insulin. Finally, cocoa consumption significant decreased the arginase activity (P = 0.0249) in the CIIO group; this is a critical enzymatic activity in the inflammatory process associated with obesity. CONCLUSIONS: The short-term consumption of cocoa improves the lipid profile, exerts anti-inflammatory effects, and protects against oxidative damage. Results of this study indicate that cocoa consumption can potentially improve IR and restore a healthy redox status.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.654-658
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• 2000

Flavor components focused on the methyl pyrazines(2,3-dimethyl pyrazine, 2,3,5-trimethyl pyrazine, tetramethyl pyrazine) of microwave-roasted cocoa beans were determined and compared with those of conventionally-roasted cocoa beans. Domestic microwave oven was modified to design the microwave roasting system. Temperature measurement technique using thermocouple probes was developed to determine the center temperature of cocoa beans during microwave roasting. Microwave roasting was carried out under two different conditions. Under the first condition, roasting time was fixed to 30 min, while roasting temperature was varied to $110^{\circ}C,\;120^{\circ}C,\;130^{\circ}C,\;140^{\circ}C,\;and\;150^{\circ}C$ Under the second condition, roasting temperature was fixed to $130^{\circ}C$, while roasting time was varied to 5 min, 10 min, 20 min, and 30 min. Conventional roasting was done at $120^{\circ}C$ for 15 min as a reference. Amount of methyl pyrazines and their ratios were influenced by microwave roasting temperature and roasting time. The most suitable methyl pyrazine ratio of cocoa beans was obtained at $140^{\circ}C$ for 30 min of microwave roasting.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1993.10a
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• pp.727-733
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• 1993

An attempt was made to mechanize the infield transportation system in a cocoa plantation. A small trailer was designed and fabricated and used with a commercial 2-wheeled walking tractor modified into a 4-wheeled tractor-trailer unit to suit the plantation conditions. The transporter had a capacity of 800 kg and could be loaded with about 1000 cocoa pods at a time and was well within the towing capability of a 10 hp tractor. Time and motion studies were conducted on a 30 acre, 6 year old cocoa plantation intercropped with coconut to compare manual and the tractor-trailer combination in relation to infield transportation. The total time taken to harvest 80 trees manually was computed to be 24 manuhours per hectare whilst the tractor-trailer combination required 18manhours.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Dyers and Finishers Conference
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• 2009.03a
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• pp.81-82
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• 2009

IEC 60456 declared the cocoa soiled cloth to be one of the standard soiled test cloths for measuring the performance of the clothes washing machines. Researchers for textile washing have known that cocoa soiled cloth has shown unpredictable washing performance. The color of cocoa mainly comes from flavonoids, and flavonoids reversibly change color with alkalinity from pH 1 to pH 7 as food colorants. The color change of flavonoids under various washing conditions, in the alkali solution, has not yet been confirmed. In this study, we have investigated the color change and the soil removal of the cocoa soiled cloth which were washed with alkaline washing liquids of various hardnesses. The cocoa soiled cloth which was washed in the water which was 60ppm or higher became darker than the soiled cloth. When the cloth was washed in the detergent solution, the cloth was slightly darker only when the washing condition was $20^{\circ}$ and 250ppm. As the water hardness increased, the soil removal decreased and the higher washing temperature was more effective.

• Mycobiology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.215-217
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• 2009

Sixty four samples of cocoa beans replicated in quadruplicates were collected from five warehouses from southwest Nigeria and examined for fungal loads, ergosterol and eohratoxin A The levels of all the variables obtained were further used as indices for cocoa grading into food quality, FoQ (erg < 5 mg/kg; OTA < $1{\mu}g$/kg), feed quality, FeQ (erg = $5{\sim}10\;mg$/kg; OTA in the range of $1.1{\sim}3.11{\mu}g$/kg), Screen for mycotoxin, SFM (erg = $10{\sim}20\;mg$/kg; OTA from $3.12{\mu}g$/kg and above) with fuel quality, FuQ having erg > 20 mg/kg and OTA > $6.12{\mu}g$/kg. Using these ergosterol indices, 18.75% of the cocoa beans examined was classified with the FoQ, 18.75% with the FuQ while 31.25% was classified with both the FeQ and the SFM, respectively. In conclusion, ergosterol can be used as a rapid index to grade fermented, dried cocoa beans meant for export.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.123-128
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• 2015

Pregermination treatment of cocoa beans either with the testa, group PCB (+T), or without the testa, group PCB (-T), was studied here to determine whether this treatment (incubation up to 120 h at $25^{\circ}C$) has any effect on the levels of allergenic proteins or on chemical composition. Our proximate analysis included carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. We used western blotting to measure changes in the amounts of allergenic proteins in the cocoa beans during the pregermination treatment. The protein and carbohydrate content of both groups (with or without the testa) decreased slightly during this treatment, whereas lipid content increased. Group PCB (-T) showed more rapid metabolic processes than did group PCB (+T) during the pregermination treatment. Western blot analysis showed that the cocoa beans contained an allergenic protein of ~28 kDa. Removal of the testa strongly reduced the amount of this allergenic protein after 72 h of the pregermination treatment. Generally, the pregermination treatment increased antioxidant activity in both groups. Significant differences in the antioxidant activity were observed between groups PCB (-T) and PCB (+T). Particularly, group PCB (-T) showed high antioxidant activity at 72 h of the pregermination treatment. Thus, the combination of cocoa beans without the testa and pregermination treatment (72 h) seems to be the optimal method for production of hypoallergenic cocoa beans rich in antioxidants for patients with allergic disorders.