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Theobroma cacao (cacao tree or cocoa tree) is a small (6–12 m (20–39 ft) tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. [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 ...
The cocoa bean, also known as cocoa (/ ˈ k oʊ. k oʊ /) or cacao (/ k ə ˈ k aʊ /), [1] is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cacao trees are native to the Amazon rainforest.
Chocolate is created from the cocoa bean. A cacao tree with fruit pods in various stages of ripening. Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, the dried and fermented seeds of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), a small, 4–8 m tall (15–26 ft tall) evergreen tree native to the deep tropical region of the Americas.
Scientists are getting a better taste of the early history of the domestication and use of cacao - the source of chocolate - thanks to residues detected on a batch of ancient ceramics from South ...
The history of chocolate dates back more than 5,000 years, when the cacao tree was first domesticated in present-day southeast Ecuador. Soon after domestication, the tree was introduced to Mesoamerica , where cacao drinks gained significance as an elite beverage among different cultures including the Maya and the Aztecs .
The cacao tree, whose scientific Latin name given by Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1753 is Theobroma cacao, is one of the 22 Theobroma species. Theobroma means "food for the Gods", from the Greek words theo (god) and broma (food). This species is utilized as raw materials for pharmaceutical products and cosmetics, however, cacao is ...
The seeds of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), the best known species of the genus, are used for making chocolate. Cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum), mocambo (Theobroma bicolor) and capacui (Theobroma speciosum) are also of economic importance.
Food historian Lois Ellen Frank calls potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, squash, chili, cacao, and vanilla the "magic eight" ingredients that were found and used only in the Americas before 1492 and were taken via the Columbian Exchange back to the Old World, dramatically transforming the cuisine there. [17] [18] [19] According to Frank, [20]