Congratulations!

DOST OneLab would like to congratulate its member laboratory- DOST RSTL Region 5 for publishing a research paper entitled "Effect of Fermentation Stages on the Nutritional and Mineral Bioavailability of Cacao Beans (Theobroma cacao L.)" in the journal Food Composition Analysis (Impact Factor 4.52), published Elsevier.

Cacao is one of the considered high-value crops in Region 5, since it serves as the main ingredient in the production of many confectionaries. However, very few undertakings were noted in the post-harvest processing, specifically in the fermentation and quality assessment. Hence, DOST Regional Standards and Testing Laboratory- Region 5 pursued the study to help small to medium-scale farmers with very limited harvest, and only sell dried and unfermented cacao beans.