Mark Guiltinan

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Mark Guiltinan

Plant science faculty member named Styer Professor

9/21/18

Mark Guiltinan, professor of plant molecular biology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, recently was named the J. Franklin Styer Professor of Horticultural Botany. The Styer Professorship is intended to supplement departmental support for outstanding faculty and further the scholar's contributions to teaching, research and service.

opening cacao pod

From coca to cacao

5/15/17

As Colombia emerges from 50 years of violence, Penn State scientists are helping poor farmers switch from growing coca, the stuff of cocaine, to growing cacao, the principal ingredient in chocolate. Cacao for Peace, the international partnership they are a part of, seeks to transform Colombia's rural Caribbean coast in a cacao-growing hotspot.

chocolate tree blossoms

Researchers discover gene that controls melting point of cocoa butter

4/16/15

The discovery of a gene involved in determining the melting point of cocoa butter -- a critical attribute of the substance widely used in foods and pharmaceuticals -- will likely lead to new and improved products, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

Yufan Zhang sprays glycerol foliar treatment.

World's cocoa crop could get a big boost from a simple, non-toxic spray

6/30/14

Cocoa farmers this year will lose an estimated 30 to 40 percent of their crop to pests and disease, and concern is growing about sustainability in cocoa production. Scientists at Penn State's Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences have found – in a safe, biodegradable compound – a potential alternative to the hazardous antifungal agents currently being used to combat one of the most damaging cacao diseases, Phytophthora pod rot (also known as Black Pod).

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Analysis of the chocolate genome could lead to improvement

9/16/10

The sequencing and analysis of the genome for the Criollo variety of the cacao tree, generally considered to produce the world's finest chocolate, was completed by an international team led by Claire Lanaud of CIRAD, France, with Mark Guiltinan of Penn State, and included scientists from 18 other institutions.

Cocoa Futures

5/1/01

Mayaro district, island of Trinidad, at the beginning of the rainy season. Along the coast, which faces nearby Venezuela, a tender breeze is blowing from the ocean. Here, a dozen miles inland, there is no such refreshment. It's mid-morning, and already the humid air is a giant thumb pressed on this ragged clearing. The surrounding foliage seems to be advancing almost visibly. Every once in a while a crowded van, a Maxi-Taxi, hurtles past, upending the silence with blaring reggae gospel or jangly Hindu pop.

Finding the Flavor of Chocolate

9/1/00

Gregory Ziegler puts a small block of chocolate into a styrofoam bowl and sticks it into the microwave. Soon, a lovely sweet aroma spreads through the air, lending warmth to the otherwise bleak lab. Ziegler takes the bowl out of the microwave; it's filled with a thick, swirling liquid. "I'm rather unromantic when it comes to this," Ziegler says. He offers the chocolate to Melis Cakirer, a Penn State undergraduate in biochemistry, and to me. We each dip our fingers into it and taste.

Live From Trinidad

6/23/00

Join a team of Penn State researchers and our own intrepid reporter in Trinidad as they kick off "Plants Without Borders," a project aimed at sharing some of the latest technology for growing one of the world's favorite crops--cocoa. During ten days in-country, associate professor of plant molecular biology Mark Guiltinan and his team plan to build a greenhouse for raising cocoa seedlings, complete with irrigation system.