Cacao

Traditional Uses & Why Herbalists Value It

Mesoamerican food and beverage traditions valued cacao seed; today its roasted or unroasted nibs add bitter, chocolate-like flavor. Fermentation and roasting help form the aroma people recognize as chocolate, beyond the seed's naturally bitter taste.

What Modern Research Has Found

Research on specified cocoa-flavanol preparations has found improvements in measures of blood-vessel function. The amount of flavanols and processing matter: fermentation, roasting and alkalization can change their content. Ordinary cacao nibs vary in composition.

Plant Part, Preparation & Natural Constituents

Cocoa flavanols and theobromine occur in the seed. Processing changes the polyphenol profile.

Cacao in Formulae

Raw Cacao Nibs feature the seed as a food ingredient, inviting comparison with unsweetened nibs rather than with sweetened chocolate or a concentrated cocoa extract.

Products Containing This Ingredient

• Raw Cacao Nibs 16 oz

Sources & Further Reading

• Kew Theobroma cacao >
• FDA cocoa flavanol evidence assessment >
• Cocoa trial measuring flow-mediated dilation