Manufacture and Evaluation of Novel Chocolate for Girls' Dysmenorrhea

Abstract

This study aimed to produce a novel chocolate supplemented with cinnamon, ginger, and mint powder and their essential oils and assess its effect on dysmenorrhea in a sample of 48 student volunteers from Mansoura University suffering from dysmenorrhea. Girls aged between 18:25 years were divided into eight groups (6 patients in each) as follows: Group 1: Normal group (without chocolate sample). Group 2: Control fed on chocolate without herbs powder and their essential oils Group 3: fed on chocolate with cinnamon powder. Group 4: fed on chocolate with cinnamon oil. Group (5): provided chocolate with ginger powder. Group 6: fed on chocolate with ginger oil. Group 7: provided chocolate with mint powder. Group 8: fed on chocolate with mint oil. Results showed that feeding girls chocolate with cinnamon, ginger, and mint powder and their essential oils increased significantly (p<0.05) hemoglobin scores as compared with control chocolate. At the same time, the consumption of chocolate for three months did not cause an increase in body mass index. So, thus the previous results indicated that consumption of chocolates with cinnamon, ginger, and mint powder and their essential oils decreased significantly (p<0.05) serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein scores as compared with control chocolate. on the other hand, this study showed that eating chocolate containing (ajwa, dried fruits, cinnamon, ginger, and mint) and their essential oils effectively reduce menstrual pain and improve iron levels in the blood, which may be lost during the menstrual cycle.