Narrator: This is Science Today. Flavonoids are a group of chemical compounds with powerful antioxidant properties. In recent years, flavonoid-rich products such as blueberries, black tea and red wine have been touted for their cardiovascular-friendly properties. Yet, Mary Engler, a professor of nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, says it turns out that dark chocolate has more flavonoids than any other food that’s been tested so far.

Engler: Dark chocolate is derived from the cocoa bean, which is from the fruit of the cacao tree. These cocoa flavonoids actually inhibit platelet activity and can delay clotting and the effect is similar to an aspirin.

Narrator: But not all chocolate is created equally.

Engler: It really depends on the processing that’s involved in making the chocolate product. They’re very labile to both heat and ph, so if one is too high, one is too low, you can destroy the flavonoids.

Narrator: The USDA is currently analyzing chocolate products to create a database of the amount percentage of flavanoids in a given product. For Science Today, I’m Larissa Branin.