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A cocoa pod (fruit) is about 17 to 20 cm (6.7 to 7.9 in) long and has a rough, leathery rind about 2 to 3 cm (0.79 to 1.18 in) thick (varying with the origin and variety of pod) filled with sweet, mucilaginous pulp (called baba de cacao in South America) with a lemonade-like taste enclosing 30 to 50 large seeds that are fairly soft and a pale ...
An edible seed [n 1] is a seed that is suitable for human or animal consumption. Of the six major plant parts, [n 2] seeds are the dominant source of human calories and protein. [1] A wide variety of plant species provide edible seeds; most are angiosperms, while a few are gymnosperms.
Theobroma cacao (cacao tree or cocoa tree) is a small (6–12 m (20–39 ft) tall) evergreen tree in the Malvaceae family. [1] [3] Its seeds - cocoa beans - are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. [4] Although the tree is native to the tropics of the Americas, the largest producer of cocoa beans in 2022 was ...
Several species of Theobroma produce edible seeds, notably cacao, cupuaçu, and mocambo. Cacao is commercially valued as the source of cocoa and chocolate. [10] Theobroma species are used as food plants by the larvae of some moths of the genus Endoclita, including E. chalybeatus, E. damor, E. hosei and E. sericeus.
Cocoa beans drying in the sun. There are different categories of cocoa beans. The traditional varieties of Forastero, Criollo and Trinitario, while still used in marketing materials, are no longer considered to have a botanical basis. The categories bulk and flavor cocoa are used to distinguish quality of beans. As of 2017, 95% of cocoa ...
Cocoa bean, the seed from the tree used to make chocolate; Cacao paste, ground cacao beans. The mass is melted and separated into: Cocoa butter, a pale, yellow, edible fat; and; Cocoa solids, the dark, bitter mass that contains most of cacao's notable phytochemicals, including caffeine and theobromine.
Although cocoa originated in the Americas, West African countries, particularly Ivory Coast and Ghana, are the leading producers of cocoa in the 21st century, accounting for some 60% of the world cocoa supply. A 2020 report estimated that more than 1.5 million children are involved in the farming of cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. [1]
From left to right: The fruits of T. grandiflorum, T. bicolor, T. speciosum, and T. cacao. Theobroma bicolor was historically cultivated by the Aztecs alongside T. cacao for production of chocolate, although when chocolate was introduced to the Spaniards, they considered the product of T. bicolor to be of a lower quality. [6]