PNAS：追溯可可饮料起源
（生物谷配图 图片来源网络）
生物谷报道：可可饮料一直是世界人民最喜爱的饮料之一。是可可树（Theobroma）提取物制作的饮料，独特的中美洲的可可制作方式包括对可可豆发酵处理、烘干、选择性的烘烤、碾碎以及与水混合制作成苦涩悬浊液。缘于侵入的欧洲人对此饮料的喜爱才延生出现代的巧克力工业。
美国康奈尔大学和加州大学伯克利分校的研究人员通过对从波多阿斯康蒂多（Puerto Escondido）地区（即现今的洪都拉斯）发掘出的陶器中提取的残留物进行化学分析，显示最早的可可饮料应起源于公元前1000 年，将人们确定的可可使用的年代又提前了至少500 年。他们通过使用在蒸馏水、甲烷/甲醇、或是氯仿/甲醇中煮沸和加热碎片的方法来收集吸收在陶器碎片中的残留物质。然后使用液相色谱-质谱法以及气相色谱-质谱法对残留物质进行分析。通过从古器物中提取出来的样品进行检测，11 个样品显示可可阳性或边界阳性（borderline positive）。液相色谱-质谱法发现古器物中含有可可碱（3，7-二甲基黄嘌呤），一种中美洲可可树特有的化合物，因而被作为古器皿的自然产物的标记化合物。另有两个样品，通过使用气相色谱-质谱法检验发现具有可可碱边界阳性。（生物谷www.bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
PNAS，doi：10.1073/pnas.0708815104，John S. Henderson，Patrick E. McGovern
Chemical and archaeological evidence for the earliest cacao beverages
*Department of Anthropology, Cornell University, McGraw Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853; Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720; Museum Applied Science Center for Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia, PA 19104; and ¶Hershey Foods Technical Center, P.O. Box 805, Hershey, PA 17033
Edited by Joyce Marcus, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, and approved October 8, 2007 (received for review September 17, 2007)
Chemical analyses of residues extracted from pottery vessels from Puerto Escondido in what is now Honduras show that cacao beverages were being made there before 1000 B.C., extending the confirmed use of cacao back at least 500 years. The famous chocolate beverage served on special occasions in later times in Mesoamerica, especially by elites, was made from cacao seeds. The earliest cacao beverages consumed at Puerto Escondido were likely produced by fermenting the sweet pulp surrounding the seeds.
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