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Joy of Chocolate Knows Long Past
Aired July 17, 2002 - 14:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now let's talk about something yummy: the joys of chocolate. Look at that. It's a taste treat that scientists now believe dates back hundreds of years earlier than previously believed.
CNN science correspondent Ann Kellan has a look now at the ancient art of chocolate making and its timeless appeal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANN KELLAN, CNN SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Only Patricia Reeb knows why she married Robert, a third-generation French chocolate maker.
(on camera): Did you marry him for his chocolate?
PATRICIA REEB, CHOCOLATIER: It makes me feel good.
KELLAN (voice-over): They've been making chocolate together at Maison Robert for 30 years.
It's no surprise our love of chocolates. But what surprises scientists is how long this love affair has been going on. Until now, we thought it started with the Mayans around 400 A.D. But according to a report in the journal of "Nature," after analyzing the contents of this ancient Mayan pot, turns out that chocolate dates as far back as 600 B.C., 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Jeff Husrt, a biochemist at the Hershey Company, was asked by archaeologists at the University of Texas to analyze residue they found in 14 Mayan pots unearthed in Belize. Using a machine called a mass spectrometer, Hurst identified the compound theobromine in some of that residue. Theobromine is a key compound in chocolate.
JEFF HUSRT, SCIENTIST, HERSHEY FOODS: There are other plants in that region that do have theobromine, but none have it as the major compound, and that was what we were able to key on.
KELLAN: But Mayan chocolate, according to archaeologists is a lot different than a...
HURST: ... good old Hershey chocolate bar. It would not have been sweetened. From what, at least, we know. PROF. PAUL GEPTS, UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA-DAVIS: The Mayans, for example, would add peppers to it. They would also add vanilla, as far as we can tell. They would also add hallucinogenic mushrooms.
KELLAN (on camera): Now, the Mayans didn't eat chocolate like this. According to archaeologists, they mostly drank it, or they used the cocoa powder as seasoning for food. It was so valuable the Mayans even used cocoa beans as currency.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people say it's an aphrodisiac.
KELLAN (voice-over): With 300 chemical compounds...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there is an addiction.
KELLAN: ... and 2,600 years of pleasure...
GEPTS: I would go for a Belgian (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
KELLAN: ... the taste of chocolate has changed. But our love for it...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's nice. You know, in your mouth, it melts slowly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is why I love it.
KELLAN: Ann Kellan, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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