Health benefits of cocoa beans

Apart from the savory delight experienced by consuming chocolate; here are some Medicinal benefits of cocoa:-

1. Promotes cardio-vascular health :cocoa as a plant and chocolate as food contain a series of chemicals that can interact with cell and tissue components providing protection against the development and amelioration of pathological conditions.

2. Reduction in LDL Cholesterol and increased in HDL cholesterol : according to the European Food Information Council (EUFIC) "Eating cocoa could help reduce LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol, according to a Japanese intervention study, where blood levels of LDL cholesterol decreased significantly compared with levels seen at the beginning of the study, while levels of ‘good’ HDL cholesterol rose."


3. Anti- depressant and europhic effect: cocoa contains the substance phenethylamine, which is a neurotransmitter found in the brain that acts as a mood elevator and natural antidepressant.

4. Brain Booster- Harvard says that a compound called cocoa flavanols have been recently linked to improved thinking skills.http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/cocoa-sweet-treat-brain-201502057676

5. Health benefits for women: heart health, sexual health, skin protection and flavanoids.

From Farmers to Consumers

From Farmers to Consumers
For the large majority of us, who are oblivious to the different stages of how cocoa is transformed into its finest, delicious chocolate form; here are the steps from farmer to consumer as the World Cocoa Foundation outlined:

1     1.  Growing cocoa requires the suitable climatic conditions. Trinidad is 11 degrees north of the Equator hence sustaining the right tropical environment for cocoa tree growth. Special Care and attention must be given to trees such as protection for heavy winds, scotching sun. It must be properly fertilize and monitored for diseases and illnesses.

    

Ripen Cocoa


      2.   Harvesting time can occur anytime, once the cocoa pods are ripened. Proper pruning practices are encouraged by farmers, and shorter trees to make harvesting easier. The pods are spilt open and the inner part is collected.


      3.  Fermenting and Drying - the beans are placed in a box and covered using banana leaves, the beans naturally ferment, which is an essential step in getting the natural flavour. The beans are then dried  in the Sun. 


    4.   Marketing - After the beans are dried and packed into sacks, the farmers take the sacks to a buying agent, who then transport it to an exporting company. In Trinidad, the Cocoa and Coffee Industry Board of Trinidad and Tobago  (CCIBTT) performs this function. They inspect the quality of the beans and places it in burlap, sisal or plastic bags which are carried to a warehouse for exportation.

                                                                Burlap Sack



5. Packaging and Transporting - the exporting company finalizes the time and lace for shipment and the beans are loaded onto ships. Once the ships reaches its destination, the cocoa is removed from holding and taken into a pier warehouse. The buyer will conduct quality checks to accept delivery and cocoa is usually store until requested by the processor or manufacturer.


      6. Roasting and Grinding - the beans are thoroughly insoected and cleaned. The inside of the cocoa called the nib. Depending on preferences, the beans can be roasted with the shell intact, or the nib can be roasted alone.  The nib is then ground into a paste. The heat generated from this process causes the cocoa butter to melt and creates "cocoa liquor."

                                                                 Cocoa Nib

 7.  Pressing - The cocoa liquor is fed into the hydraulic presses that divide liquor into cocoa butter and cocoa cakes. The cakes can be sold into the generic cocoa cake market, or ground into fine powder.

      8. Making Chocolate - Yum... now the exciting part, making chocolate! The liquor is mixed with cocoa butter, sugar and in some cases, milk. The mixture is then placed into conches - large agitators that stir abd smooth the mixture under heat. The longer chocolate is conched, the smoother it will be.

    9. Consumer - Today, people all around the world enjoy chocolate in thousands of different forms, consuming more than 3,000,000 tons of cocoa beans annually.

    >>>For more information, please visit the WCF @ http://worldcocoafoundation.org/about-cocoa/cocoa-value-chain


     >>> And contact the Cocoa and Coffee Industry Board of T&T for further information on the grade of our cocoa and its delectable nature: http://www.agriculture.gov.tt/divisions-and-units/state-boards/the-cocoa-and-coffee-industry-board-of-trinidad-and-tobago.html

Trinidad's delectable Fine Flavour Cocoa: Background

Birth of the Hyrid Trinitario Beans

Trinidad produces Trinitario cocoa trees, which are predominantly fine/flavour cocoa. These beans are high quality and are a key ingredient for dark rich chocolate today!

Trinitario was born as a hybrid between Criollo and Foratero trees. Research traced back the 1678, when Criollo trees from Venezuela had been planted in Trinidad, but disaster struck when the trees were infested by fungi and other diseases. Thereafter, the introduction of a more robust Forastero from the Amazon region was planted in Trinidad. The new variety was combined with the remaining Criollo trees, resulting in the new Trinitario variety.

A rich part of Trinidadians’ history was at the end of the slave trade era where Crown land was available at a low cost; on the other hand many freed slaves inhabited the land and earned their livelihood cultivating cocoa. This form of labour benefited Trinidad to produce the third highest producer of cocoa – 20% of the world’s cocoa production.

Trinidad dominated the local economy for approximately 60 years, when demand was high and prices were stable; however over production of cocoa, the crafty Witches’ Broom Disease, stiff competition for labour attributed to the plunder of local production.

Since the discovery of oil and its commercial production in 1908, Trinidad is still struggling to once again capture the profits from this niche market. Cocoa estates are in a state of abandonment, however since the recent decrease in oil prices, government have proposed a number of strategies to revitalize the dying industry.

Later, we will continue to explore more enriching developments of Trinitario beans.