Chocolate contains more healthy plant compounds, gram-for-gram, than fruit juice, a study has found.

Scientists compared cocoa powder, the raw ingredient of chocolate, and powders made from fruit.

They found that the cocoa had a greater content of flavanols, health-giving plant chemicals, and more antioxidant capacity.

Comparisons were also made between single servings of dark chocolate, cocoa, hot chocolate mix, and fruit juices.

The research again showed that both dark chocolate and cocoa had more antioxidant activity and more flavanols than fruit. But hot chocolate contained few healthy ingredients due to processing.

Antioxidants, which include flavanols, neutralise destructive molecules called free radicals and are believed to combat heart disease and cancer.

The research, conducted by scientists at the Hershey Centre for Health & Nutrition, in Pennsylvania, US, appears in the Chemistry Central Journal.

Lead author Debra Millar, medical doctor, and colleagues wrote: “Natural cocoa powder and dark chocolate have significantly greater TF (total flavanol) values than the other fruit powders and juices tested, respectively.

“Cocoa powder... provides nutritive value beyond that derived from its macronutrient composition. Cacao seeds should be considered a ‘super fruit’ and products derived from cacao seed extracts, such as natural cocoa powder and dark chocolate, as ‘super foods’.”