The constant need to find products that contribute to people¿s well-being has led to cacao revaluation and its byproducts in recent years. An important amount of investigations are developed around the stages of industrialization of cacao. Most of those works focus on understanding the chemical reactions that occur and their effect on the content of nutrients and the quality and acceptance of the final products. Other investigations are related to the effects of consuming cacao and its byproducts and its impact on health. This increasing attention has also led to efforts to recover Theobroma cacao¿s native species and develop better sowing and production conditions.. Cacao is not only an important source of energy, but a source of bioactive compounds, like polyphenoles, methylxanthines, vitamins, and minerals, among others. All of those compounds have proved beneficial effects on health. The concentration of those compounds, their bioavailability and, therefore, their impact on health, depends on different variables such as origin variables; for instance, cocoa variety, cultivation area, fertilization, cultivation health (presence of pests), etc.; processing variables: stages, and processing conditions (for instance; temperature, time, and moisture content); consumption variables: form and frequency of consumption of the byproduct; and finally variables related to consumer health: normal, borderline, or with the disease. Generally, each stage of cacao processing is, to a greater or lesser extent, related to the loss of biomolecules, especially antioxidants. The consumption of less processed cocoa forms, such as nibs, minimally processed drinks, and dark chocolate (90%), will yield more significant health benefits.
