Cocoa
Family Sterculiaceae
Theobroma cacao, the cocoa (T. cacao 1) is a small tree, 6-8 m tall, with large alternate, simple dark green leaves, up to 40 cm long, and small white or reddish pentamerous flowers (T. cacao 2), 1-2 cm across, borne cauliflorous on the stem and older branches. Each flower with 5 staminodes and 5 fertile stamens, and a superior ovary. The fruit is a drupe, usually called a pod (T. cacao 3), 10-30 cm long, cylindrical, pointed or blunt in shape and with a green, yellow or orange skin. The seeds, which are usually called beans, are 2-4 cm long and arranged in rows along a central axis (T. cacao 4). Each fruit contains 20-40 oval seeds, surrounded by mucilaginous pulp. Cocoa beans (T. cacao 5) are rich in fat and contain the alkaloids caffeine and theobromine as well as different polyphenols. As a result of fermentation and roasting the characteristic aroma of chocolate is produced.
Distribution
Cocoa is a native of the Andes, and the South American Indians believed in its divine origin. For that reason Linnaeus called it Theobroma, meaning ‘ food of the Gods’ . The Indians used cocoa by mixing roasted and ground beans with maize (Zea maiz) and chillies (Capsicum annuum). They also used the beans as a currency: 100 beans would buy a slave. When Cortes defeated Montezuma in 1519, large quantities of beans were found in his palace. The Spanish disliked the way the Indians prepared cocoa, but this changed when they learned to mix the ground beans with sugar and vanilla. The Spaniards soon distributed cocoa in the New World. In 1525 it reached Trinidad and from there other Caribbean islands. Two centuries later, in 1727, much of the cocoa in Trinidad was destroyed, probably by an outbreak of disease. Some 30 years later Amazonian varieties of cocoa were introduced and hybridisation with the remnants of the original variety produced the so-called trinitario cocoa. In the 17th century Spaniards and Portuguese had introduced the plant in West Africa; the Spaniards had introduced it into the Philippines; the Dutch in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Suriname; and finally in the 18th century the Germans took it to Samoa and New Guinea. The first botanical description of the plant was made by von Humboldt in 1806. Except the trinitario cocoa, two other types are recognised: criollo, with yellow or red pods and large seeds; and amazonian forastero, with yellow pods and flattened seeds. The last type was taken into cultivation in Brazil and West Africa.
Use
Early in the 17th century the cocoa beverage became popular in Italy and France, and soon afterwards the habit of drinking cocoa spread to Holland, Germany and England. In 1828 the Dutch manufacturer van Houten invented a method of expressing much of the fat from the bean, making cocoa more palatable and digestible. The fermented beans are roasted and cracked, shell and embryo removed, and the cracked beans ground. From this mass cocoa powder is made by reducing the fat content. To make chocolate, the cocoa mass is ground with sugar and extra cocoa fat is added. Cocoa powder is widely used in drinks and pastries. Milk chocolate was invented in Switzerland in 1876 by Daniel Peter; and another Swiss, Rudolph Lindt, invented fondant chocolate in 1879. Cocoa fat, with a melting point just below body temperature, is also used in cosmetics.
Yields vary enormously, depending on local conditions. The biggest producers of cocoa are Ivory Coast, Brazil and Ghana. Three quarters of the world production is consumed in seven countries, of which the US, Germany, the UK and Holland are the biggest consumers.