BY JESSICA PALL &
MINDY PIERCE
Lions’ Pride Sports Editors

Source: chocolatetradingco.com

Whether one’s preference is rich and dark, creamy and milky, hot and silky, or solid and delicious, chocolate is a treat enjoyed by most people and is especially a favorite treat during the Valentine Season.

Over $1 billion is spent on chocolate for Valentine’s Day. While during the year, 75percent of chocolate is bought by women, around Valentine’s Day 75percent of chocolate is instead purchased by men www.holidayinsights.com).

Chocolate is often associated with love and is one of the most popular gifts to give on Valentine’s Day. Chocolate hearts in all shapes and sizes and red heart shape boxes filled with chocolate treats are stocked on supermarket shelves during this love holiday season.

It is scientifically proven that chocolate causes both physical and mental relaxation due to the Theobromide, the bitter alkaloid, within it (www.xocoatl.org).

So, is chocolate good for an individual or not? Studies say that eating a little bit of dark chocolate everyday is the best for lowering blood pressure, heart health, preventing blood clotting, and reducing inflammation, which is the root of how all diseases begin.

For women, a study was done that for every female who drinks a half cup of cocoa enriched for 90 days every day, developed softer and moister skin than before the study (cbsnews.com).

People enjoy chocolate in many different forms. Some enjoy the chocolate taste while others prefer it as a background flavor combined with other ingredients.

“I’m not a big chocolate fan,” junior Liz Casey said, “but I love it mixed with caramel or peanut butter.”

A Chocolate bar is made from the seeds of the Theobroma Cacoa tree, native to the tropical rainforests of South America. Shade tolerant and moisture loving, it is a small tree that grows large colorful pods in which 50-60 seeds are enclosed. Along with the seeds, the pod contains a yellow, slippery, sweet fruit which is edible but tastes nothing like chocolate (www.xocoatl.org).

Although the Cacoa tree is native to South America, around half of the world’s supply of chocolate is grown and shipped from two East African Countries: Cote D’Ivorie and Ghana.

The chocolate one eats comes from the raw tough bitter seeds, which are dried and roasted before crushed and used. There are 80-85 beans used in a standard 100g 70% chocolate bar which is around one and a half seeds of a Cacoa fruit. However, a 30g 10 percent milk-chocolate bar only contains six cocoa beans (www.xocoatl.org). To make chocolate, three necessary ingredients are needed: Cacoa paste, cocoa butter, and sugar.

Although there are 20 different varieties of Cacoa fruit trees, there are only three which are commonly used in making chocolate. Forastero is the most commonly used tree in which 80-90% of the market uses. Not a very fine-grade chocolate, it is often used as a base and mixed with higher quality chocolate. Crillo is used in a very fine grade of chocolate and is used by only the high end Chocolate makers. The third variety is Trinitero, a hybrid of the previous two Cacoa trees in which combines the best aspects of both. It is often used in very fine grades of chocolate. Each chocolate tastes very different (www.xocoatl.org).

Thus, for those people that love chocolate, this article may give the cocoa dependant a little hope to keep eating this delicious, dark sweet.