Cracking the molecular code - to create a true atlas of cocoa
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Composed of some 20,000 molecules, the cocoa bean is the most complex foodstuff on earth. Its complexity dwarfs that of any other plant. And when the bean is fermented, roasted, ground to become cocoa powder or conched to become chocolate, the complexity only increases. Nobody knows why the cocoa bean behaves the way it does - why it goes insane, as one researcher calls it.