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Nacional (cocoa Bean)
The Nacional is a rare variety of cocoa bean found in areas of South America such as Ecuador and Peru. The Ecuadorian cacao variety called Nacional traces its genetic lineage as far back as 3,500 years. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Nacional was considered by many European chocolatiers to be the most coveted source of cacao in the world because of its floral aroma and complex flavor profile. After an outbreak of disease in 1916 and germplasm from foreign cacao varieties was subsequently introduced, some experts in the 21st century had formerly considered the Nacional bean to be extinct. Pure genotypes of the bean are rare because most Nacional varieties have been interbred with other cocoa bean varieties. The Nacional has often been described as a "good '' forastero''". Description Nacional is a rare variety of cocoa bean found in areas of South America such as Ecuador and Peru. History The Ecuadorian cacao variety called Nacional traces its genetic lineage as far ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety (botany)
In botanical nomenclature, variety (abbreviated var.; in ) is a taxonomic rank below that of species and subspecies, but above that of form. As such, it gets a three-part infraspecific name. It is sometimes recommended that the subspecies rank should be used to recognize geographic distinctiveness, whereas the variety rank is appropriate if the taxon is seen throughout the geographic range of the species. Example The pincushion cactus, ''Escobaria vivipara'', is a wide-ranging variable species occurring from Canada to Mexico, and found throughout New Mexico below about . Nine varieties have been described. Where the varieties of the pincushion cactus meet, they intergrade. The variety ''Escobaria vivipara'' var. ''arizonica'' is from Arizona, while ''Escobaria vivipara'' var. ''neo-mexicana'' is from New Mexico. Definitions The term is defined in different ways by different authors. However, the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, while recognizing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
To'ak Chocolate
To'ak Chocolate (pronounced Toe-Ahk) is an Ecuadorian chocolate company founded in 2013 by Jerry Toth, Carl Schweizer, and Denise Valencia. It produces its chocolate from the rare Nacional (cocoa bean), Nacional cocoa bean Variety (botany), variety. To'ak Chocolate's Heirloom Nacional cacao bar has been dubbed "the world's most expensive chocolate bar" by CNBC in 2017. Chocolate bars To’ak's chocolate bars are produced from the Nacional (cocoa bean), Nacional variety of cocoa bean, which was thought to be extinction, extinct by some experts. The chocolate bar is handcrafted, and its production involves Fermentation in food processing, fermenting the cocoa beans. The chocolate bar is composed entirely of the Nacional cocoa bean, with a small amount of added cane sugar. A single roasted cacao bean is placed in the middle of the bar to signify the bar's origin. The company ages bars in wood casks and empty spirit casks. Regenerative cacao To’ak and the rainforest conserva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edible Nuts And Seeds
An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from " eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushrooms, insects, seaweed, and so forth – are referred to as edible. Processed items that normally are not ingested but are specially manufactured to be so, like edible underwear or edible packaging, are also labeled as edible. Edible items in nature Humans eat thousands of plant species; there may be as many as 75,000 edible species of angiosperms, of which perhaps 7,000 are often eaten. Edible plants found in nature include flowers, seeds, berries, seaweed, and cacti. Being able to identify the versions of these plants that are safe to eat is an important survival skill. Some fungi, including certain types of mushrooms, are also edible. Many animals are also edible, including domesticated livestock as well as wild insects, amphibians ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocessed, they taste intensely bitter. In making chocolate, these seeds Cocoa bean fermentation, are usually fermented to develop the flavor. They are then dried, cleaned, and roasted. The shell is removed to reveal nibs, which are ground to chocolate liquor: unadulterated chocolate in rough form. The liquor can be processed to separate its two components, cocoa solids and cocoa butter, or shaped and sold as unsweetened baking chocolate. By adding sugar, sweetened chocolates are produced, which can be sold simply as dark chocolate (a.k.a., plain chocolate), or, with the addition of milk, can be made into milk chocolate. Making milk chocolate with cocoa butter and without cocoa solids produces white chocolate. In some chocolates, other ingredients ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost.com; PageSix.com, a gossip site; and Decider.com, an entertainment site. The newspaper was founded in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton, a Federalist Party, Federalist and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who was appointed the nation's first United States Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of the Treasury by George Washington. The newspaper became a respected broadsheet in the 19th century, under the name ''New York Evening Post'' (originally ''New-York Evening Post''). Its most notable 19th-century editor was William Cullen Bryant. In the mid-20th century, the newspaper was owned by Dorothy Schiff, who developed the tabloid format that has been used since by the newspaper. In 1976, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp bought the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DNA Analysis
Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or through biochemical analysis to measure specific protein output. In a medical setting, genetic testing can be used to diagnose or rule out suspected genetic disorders, predict risks for specific conditions, or gain information that can be used to customize medical treatments based on an individual's genetic makeup. Genetic testing can also be used to determine biological relatives, such as a child's biological parentage (genetic mother and father) through DNA paternity testing, or be used to broadly predict an individual's ancestry. Genetic testing of plants and animals can be used for similar reasons as in humans (e.g. to assess relatedness/ancestry or predict/diagnose genetic disorders), to gain information used for selective breed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund
In popular usage, an heirloom is something that has been passed down for Generation, generations through family members. Examples are a Family Bible (book), family bible, antiques, weapons or jewellery. The term originated with the historical principle of an heirloom in English law, a Personal property, chattel which by immemorial usage was regarded as annexed by inheritance to a estate (law), family estate. Loom originally meant a tool. Such genuine heirlooms were almost unknown by the beginning of the twentieth century. English legal history In the English legal system, any owner of a genuine heirloom could dispose of it during his lifetime, but he could not bequest, bequeath it by will (law), will away from the estate. If the owner died intestate, it went to his heir-at-law, and if he Will and testament, devised the estate it went to the devisee. The word subsequently acquired a secondary meaning, applied to furniture, pictures, ''etc.'', vested in trust (law), trustees ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contains the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific, about west of the mainland. The country's Capital city, capital is Quito and its largest city is Guayaquil. The land that comprises modern-day Ecuador was once home to several groups of Indigenous peoples in Ecuador, indigenous peoples that were gradually incorporated into the Inca Empire during the 15th century. The territory was Spanish colonization of the Americas, colonized by the Spanish Empire during the 16th century, achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, from which it emerged as a sovereign state in 1830. The legacy of both empires is reflected in Ecuador's ethnically diverse population, with most of its million people being mestizos, followed by large minorities of Europe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cocoa Bean
The cocoa bean, also known as cocoa () or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cacao trees are native to the Amazon rainforest. They are the basis of chocolate and Mesoamerican foods including tejate, an indigenous Mexican drink. The cacao tree was first domesticated at least 5,300 years ago by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in South America before it was introduced in Mesoamerica. Cacao was consumed by pre-Hispanic cultures in spiritual ceremonies, and its beans were a common currency in Mesoamerica. The cacao tree grows in a limited geographical zone; today, West Africa produces nearly 81% of the world's crop. The three main varieties of cocoa plants are Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario, with Forastero being the most widely used. In 2024, global cocoa bean production reached 5.8 million tonnes, with Ivory Coast leading a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witches Broom Disease
''Moniliophthora perniciosa'' (previously ''Crinipellis perniciosa'') is a fungus that causes " witches' broom disease" (WBD) of the cocoa tree ''T. cacao''. This pathogen is currently limited to South America, Panama and the Caribbean, and is perhaps one of the best-known cocoa diseases, thought to have co-evolved with cocoa in its centre of origin (first recorded in the Brazilian Amazon in 1785). This fungus is hemibiotroph, with two characteristic phases: biotrophic (expanding and infecting, on living tissue) and saprotrophic (producing basidiospores, on necrotic tissue). The biotrophic stage, and what triggers its switch to a saprotrophic stage, are still not understood. Hosts and symptoms ''Moniliophthora perniciosa'' can infect a number of hosts. Generally, ''M. perniciosa'' infects tropical host plants, and host plants in the Upper Amazon River basin on the eastern side of the Andes. ''M. perniciosa'' is now known to comprise four different biotypes (C, S, L and H), e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South China Morning Post
The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained Hong Kong's newspaper of record since British colonial rule. Editor-in-chief Tammy Tam succeeded Wang Xiangwei in 2016. The ''SCMP'' prints paper editions in Hong Kong and operates an online news website that is blocked in mainland China. The newspaper's circulation has been relatively stable for years—the average daily circulation stood at 100,000 in 2016. In a 2019 survey by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the ''SCMP'' was regarded relatively as the most credible paid newspaper in Hong Kong. The ''SCMP'' was owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation from 1986 until it was acquired by Malaysian real estate tycoon Robert Kuok in 1993. On 5 April 2016, Alibaba Group acquired the media properties of the SCMP Group, including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
