Ronald Ross Watson ● Victor R. Preedy ● Sherma Zibadi
Editors
2013
Historically, the Mayans used the fruit and seedpods from the cacao tree as a food. This food was one of many brought from the New World by the Spanish. The Aztecs made a drink that was thick, unsweetened, and eaten with a spoon, although now chocolate products are widely used around the world, with many modi fi cations. The fi rst section of the book reviews chocolate’s historical use in the Americas and production methods built upon that experience. The second section then reviews constituents, their analysis, and bioavailability to provide a current understanding of chocolate. These include its role in meeting nutritional requirements, aroma, and the role of chocolate by-products, such as cocoa butter, in health.