Cacao

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Cacao
Cacao tree with fruit pods
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malvales Family: Sterculiaceae Genus: Theobroma Species: T. cacao
Binomial name
Theobroma cacao L.

For the town in French Guiana, see Cacao, French Guiana. For the Java Virtual Machine, see CACAO.

Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is a small (4–8 m tall) evergreen tree in the family Sterculiaceae (alternatively Malvaceae), native to tropical Mexico, but now cultivated throughout the tropics. Its seeds are used to make cocoa and chocolate.

The bush grows naturally in tropical regions such as in the low foothills of the Andes at elevations of around 200–400 m in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. It requires a humid climate with regular rainfall and good soil. It is an understory tree, growing best with some overhead shade. The leaves are alternate, entire, unlobed, 10–40 cm long and 5–20 cm broad.

Cacao flowers

The flowers are produced in clusters directly on the trunk and older branches; they are small, 1–2 cm diameter, with pink calyx. The fruit, called a cacao pod, is ovoid, 15–30 cm long and 8–10 cm wide, ripening yellow to orange, and weighs about 500 g when ripe. The pod contains 20 to 60 seeds, usually called "beans", embedded in a white pulp. Each seed contains a significant amount of fat (40–50% as cocoa butter). Their most important active constituent is theobromine, a compound similar to caffeine.

The scientific name Theobroma means "food of the gods", while cacao probably comes from the Mixe-Zoquean languages used by the Olmecs (Kakawa), and is believed to have been in use as early as 1000 BC.

[edit] Currency system

Cacao beans constituted both a staple food and a major currency system in Pre-Columbian mesoamerican civilizations. At one point the Aztec empire received a yearly tribute of 980 loads of cacao, in addition to other goods. Each load represented exactly 24,000 beans. The buying power of quality beans were such that 80-100 beans could buy a new cloth mantle. The use of cacao beans as currency is also know to have spawned counterfeiters during the Aztec empire. ^[1]

In some areas, such as Yucatán, cacao beans were still used in place of small coins as late as the 1840s.

[edit] Cultivation

Cacao is cultivated on over 70000 km² worldwide. Côte d'Ivoire produces 40% of world cacao, Ghana and Indonesia each produce about 15%, and Brazil, Nigeria, Cameroon Ecuador, and Venezuela (Chuao) produce smaller amounts.

A tree begins to bear when 4 or 5 years old. In one year, when mature, it may have 6,000 flowers, but only about 20 pods. About 300-600 seeds (10 pods) are required to produce around 1 kg of cocoa paste.

Cocoa beans in a cacao pod

There are three main cultivar groups of cacao beans used to make cocoa and chocolate. The most prized, rare, and expensive is the Criollo Group, the cocoa bean used by the Maya. Only 10% of chocolate is made from Criollo, which is less bitter and more aromatic than any other bean. The cacao bean in 80% of chocolate is made using beans of the Forastero Group. Forastero trees are significantly hardier than Criollo trees, resulting in cheaper cacao beans. Trinitario, a hybrid of Criollo and Forastero, is used in about 10% of chocolate. For details of processing, see cocoa.

Young Cacao plantation

[edit] Pests

Various plant pests and diseases can cause serious problems for cacao production.

• Insects
  • Conopomorpha cramerella ("Cocoa pod borer")
• Fungi
  • Moniliophthora roreri ("Frosty Pod")
  • Crinipellis perniciosa ("Witches' Broom") or ("Ceratocystic wilt")
  • Ceratocystis fimbriata ("Mal de machete")
  • Verticillium dahliae
  • Oncobasidium theobromae ("Vascular streak dieback")
• Heterokonts
  • Phytophthora spp. ("Black Pod")
• Viruses
  • CSSV

[edit] External links

• World Cocoa Foundation - Supporting Sustainable Cocoa Farming
• The food of the Gods – the nature, growth, cultivation, manufacture and history of Cocoa, by Brandon Head, from Project Gutenberg
• Malaysian Cacao Board
• International Cocoa Organization (ICCO)
• Theobroma Cacao — the Tree of Life
• TransFair USA Fair Trade Cocoa Program
• Plant Diseases Imperil Chocolate Production - Science Friday on NPR, 2006-06-09

[edit] References

1. ^ Sophie D. Coe (1994) America's First Cuisines. University of Texas Press