Health effects of chocolate no medical or regulatory authority has approved any health claim. "Theobroma cacao", the cacao tree, produces seeds containing flavanols. The seeds have been used to make beverages for some 2000 years in Aztec, Olmec, and Maya civilizations in central and south America. The drinks were ascribed a wide variety of curative and stimulant properties, unsupported by experimental evidence. In the 19th century, chocolate as a solid was invented, and milk and sugar were added to create milk chocolate, high in fat and sugar. Doubtful research, sometimes funded by the chocolate industry, has at times made suggestions of possible health benefits
Cacao yellow mosaic virus Cacao yellow mosaic virus Cacao yellow mosaic virus (CYMV) is a virus in the family Tymoviridae that infects cacao trees in Sierra Leone. CYMV, like other "Tymoviridae" are non-enveloped viruses, surrounded by a capsid approximately 30 nanometers wide. The viral capsid has T = 3 symmetry. "Tymoviridae" have positive-sense single-stranded RNA genomes approximately 6 kilobases long. In the cacao tree, CYMV infection leads to the appearance of large circular yellow blotches on the leaves. Infected trees are not killed or severely inhibited. CYMV has only been found in Sierra Leone where it primarily infects the cacao tree "Theobroma cacao". However,