Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
Plant Biotechnol J. 2018 Jan;16(1):4-17. doi: 10.1111/pbi.12848. Epub 2017 Nov 19.
Theobroma cacao-The Food of the Gods, provides the raw material for the multibillion dollar chocolate industry and is also the main source of income for about 6 million smallholders around the world. Additionally, cocoa beans have a number of other nonfood uses in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Specifically, the potential health benefits of cocoa have received increasing attention as it is rich in polyphenols, particularly flavonoids. At present, the demand for cocoa and cocoa-based products in Asia is growing particularly rapidly and chocolate manufacturers are increasing investment in this region. However, in many Asian countries, cocoa production is hampered due to many reasons including technological, political and socio-economic issues. This review provides an overview of the present status of global cocoa production and recent advances in biotechnological applications for cacao improvement, with special emphasis on genetics/genomics, in vitro embryogenesis and genetic transformation. In addition, in order to obtain an insight into the latest innovations in the commercial sector, a survey was conducted on granted patents relating to T. cacao biotechnology.
可可树——众神的食物，为价值数十亿美元的巧克力行业提供原材料，也是全球约 600 万小农的主要收入来源。此外，可可豆在制药和化妆品行业还有许多其他非食品用途。具体来说，可可富含多酚，特别是类黄酮，其潜在的健康益处越来越受到关注。目前，亚洲对可可和可可制品的需求增长尤其迅速，巧克力制造商正在增加对该地区的投资。然而，在许多亚洲国家，可可生产因技术、政治和社会经济等诸多原因而受到阻碍。本综述概述了全球可可生产的现状以及生物技术在可可改良方面的最新进展，特别强调了遗传学/基因组学、离体胚胎发生和遗传转化。此外，为了深入了解商业领域的最新创新，对与可可生物技术相关的已授权专利进行了调查。
