Researchers used bright X-rays to unveil how cacao trees protect themselves from toxic metal cadmium.
Researchers from the University Grenoble Alpes , France, together with the ESRF, the European Synchrotron located in Grenoble, France, used ESRF's bright X-rays to unveil how cacao trees protect themselves from toxic metal cadmium. This knowledge is relevant as new EU regulations restrict cadmium concentration in chocolate. Their results are published in Environmental and Experimental Botany.
The UGA scientists travelled to the International Cocoa Genebank in Trinidad and Tobago, which hosts a field cacao collection with approximately 2400 cacao genotypes, to collect their samples in collaboration with the Cocoa Research Centre. In addition, they also discovered that cadmium combines with sulphur in certain cells in the roots. This mechanism is well known in roots of cereals, where cadmium is retained in the vacuoles and bound to thiol-containing molecules. In the case of cacao, this mechanism is less pronounced, and more cadmium is transferred to aerial parts.
Hester Blommaert, Hiram Castillo-Michel, Giulia Veronesi, Rémi Tucoulou, Jacques Beauchêne, Pathmanathan Umaharan, Erik Smolders, Géraldine Sarret.It was the money that grew on trees. Said to be a gift from the gods, cacao for the ancient Maya was considered sacred, used not only as currency, but in special ceremonies and religious rituals. ...
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Cacao plants' defense against toxic cadmium unveiledResearchers from the University Grenoble Alpes (UGA), France, together with the ESRF, the European Synchrotron located in Grenoble, France, used ESRF's bright X-rays to unveil how cacao trees protect themselves from toxic metal cadmium. This knowledge is relevant as new EU regulations restrict cadmium concentration in chocolate.
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