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The cocoa bean, also known simply 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 a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring in other foods. The cacao tree has been used as a source of food for at least 5,300 years, starting with the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what is present-day Ecuador.
Chocolate is a Spanish loanword, first recorded in English in 1604, [1] and in Spanish in 1579. [2] However, the word's origins beyond this are contentious. [3] Despite a popular belief that chocolate derives from the Nahuatl word chocolatl, early texts documenting the Nahuatl word for chocolate drink use a different term, cacahuatl, meaning "cacao water".
Whether you’re shopping for hot chocolate mixes or browsing the candy aisle for a sweet treat, you’re almost guaranteed to see "cocoa" or "cacao" on a few product labels. Perhaps curiosity got ...
Today's sugary chocolate confections differ greatly from cacao's early uses. Before Europeans reached the Americas five centuries ago, cultures like the Aztecs and Maya prepared it as a drink ...
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 ...
So scientists, entrepreneurs and chocolate-lovers are coming up with ways to grow cocoa and make the crop more resilient and more resistant to pests — as well as craft chocolatey-tasting cocoa ...
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]