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
Theobroma cacao seed germination of "T. cacao," inhibiting growth of various types of microorganisms (such as different oomycetes, fungi, and bacteria), and preventing rotting by "Phytophthora megakarya". Various plant pests and diseases can cause serious problems for cacao production. The genome of "T. cacao" is diploid, its size is 430 Mbp, and it comprises 10 chromosome pairs (2n=2x=20). In September 2010, a team of scientists announced a draft sequence of the cacao genome (Matina1-6 genotype). In a second, unrelated project, the International Cocoa Genome Sequencing Consortium-ICGS, co-ordinated by CIRAD, first published in December 2010 (online, paper publication in January 2011), the sequence