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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. 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.
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. In some areas, such as Yucatán, cacao beans were still used in place of small coins as late as the 1840s. Cultivation
Pests Various plant pests and diseases can cause serious problems for cacao production. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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