By Liliana Usvat
The Latin name
for cacao is Theobroma, which means 'food of the gods.' Anyone who has
tasted cocoa knows why this name is so appropriate.
Chocolate is made from cacao beans. Cacao beans are the seeds of cacao
pods which are the fruit of the cacao tree known in Latin as “Theobroma
Cacao” meaning the food of the gods. Ask any chocoholic and they will
agree the name is quite appropriate.
Chocolate comes
from the tree Therobroma cacao, meaning food of the gods in Greek.
Originating in Mexico, chocolate was first used by the Olmecs.
Cacao trees are delicate plants that live in the understory of tropical
forests and require other, taller trees to shelter them from wind and
sun. These petite trees top out at 60 feet tall in the wild (although
most grow only 20 to 40 feet high), shielded from wind and sun by
hardwoods and other trees that stretch as high as 200 feet.
This showy tree draws other plants to it. Moss and lichens cling to the bark, as do small orchids. Theobroma Cacao’s
own pink or white blossoms adorn the branches. Some of these pretty
flowers turn into colorful fruits called pods, filled with sweet juice
and bitter seeds. These seeds—the cocoa beans—form the heart of
chocolate.
While scientists agree the tree originated in South or Central
America, the exact location eludes them. Some believe it first grew in
the Amazon basin of Brazil. Other scientists point to the Orinoco Valley
of Venezuela, while still others root for Central America.
Others
propose an enigmatic tale and posit that the Olmecs, the first known
people to eat cacao, brought the tree from their original homeland, and
that this unknown location may have disappeared under the sea.
Humans’ love affair with chocolate began at least 4,000 years ago in
Mesoamerica, in present-day southern Mexico and Central America, where
cacao grew wild. When the Olmecs unlocked the secret of how to eat this
bitter seed, they launched an enduring phenomenon.
Since then,
people around the world have turned to chocolate to cure sickness,
appease gods, show love, buy rabbits, fete holidays, survive fasts, ward
off scorpions and sustain warriors.
In fact, the making of
chocolate has evolved into an industry so large that 40 to 50 million
people depend on cocoa for their livelihoods—and chocolate farmers
produce 3.8 million tons of cocoa beans per year.
For many centuries, chocolate was a bitter drink. Made from cacao
nibs, it was akin to modern-day baking chocolate mixed with water.
Some cultures drank it cold and some hot.
The ancients added
flavorings such as allspice, cinnamon, chili powder and vanilla. They
may have mixed in maize or sweeteners such as honey, agave syrup or
cactus.
History
In Mexico during the time of the Aztec kings the small seeds were utilized as coins twelve approximating to the value of 1
d., the smallest actual coin in use then being worth about 6
d. The seeds were necessary for small transactions. The method is still in use in some parts of Mexico.
When the Spaniards arrived, the Mesoamericans were busily drinking
cacao. They were so besotted by this drink, in fact, that they proudly
shared it with company. In 1519, the Aztec emperor Montezuma served some
to his new guest, the conquistador Hernando Cortes. The Aztecs thought
that Cortes was the reincarnation of an exiled god-king. Instead, he
had come calling to find rumored Aztec gold, and within three years he
brought down the Aztec empire.
Cortes brought cacao home to Spain in 1529, according to many scholars.
He was not the first to do so. Nearly 30 years prior, Christopher
Columbus had presented cacao beans from the Caribbean to King Ferdinand
and Queen Isabella as a curiosity, and nobody considered them further.
Yet
Cortes did his homework and sweetened the cacao drink for Spaniards,
adding copious amounts of sugar that was unavailable in Mesoamerica.
Before sailing home, he also planted cacao trees in the Caribbean.
For nearly 100 years, Spanish aristocrats secretly sipped this new
delicacy. They also continued to experiment, adding cinnamon and vanilla
to the sugar and serving it steaming hot. As the drink gained
popularity, the Spanish planted more cacao trees in its colonies in
Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Jamaica.
The Aztecs and Maya peoples had many ways of making food and drink from
cocoa beans. They also used the beans as money, for example exchanging
one turkey for 200 beans, or one slave for 100 beans.
Cocoa beans were so precious that only the royals, warriors and the
wealthy could afford to eat and drink chocolate. The hieroglyphs tell us
that the Aztecs and Maya peoples drank cocoa powder suspended in water,
and used flavourings such as chillies (
Capsicum annuum), vanilla (
Vanilla planifolia), achiote (
Bixa orellana), aromatic herbs and honey.
Some interesting facts about the cacao tree
- it grows to a height of 12 to 15 metres
- it bears fruit continuously
- it stops bearing fruit after 25 years, although it can live much longer
- in the wild, it always grows beneath the much taller rainforest canopy to be protected from direct sunlight and wind
- it requires ground cover to maintain soil moisture; its dead leaves serve this purpose
- it has flowers directly on its trunk and major branches
- it has flowers pollinated by little midges and not bees
- it has no way to release its seeds by itself; it needs either animals or humans to open its pods
Cacao leaves
When cacao leaves fall to the forest floor, they mix with the leaves
of other plants and decay. Fungi and other organisms decompose this
debris, which are going to feed the soil with essential nutrients, thus
fertilizing the tree. In addition, decaying leaves provide
the perfect breeding ground for midges, the tiny insects that pollinate
cacao flowers.
Cacao roots
Cacao roots soak up rainfall and nutrients from the soil and leaf
litter. Stretching across the thin forest floor, these roots also
anchor the cacao tree and help prevent soil erosion.
Cultivated cacao's root system is shallow, however, and relies heavily
on the decaying cover of leaf litter to remain healthy. Most of the
nutrients in rainforest soils can be found in the topmost layer of
decaying vegetation. When grown naturally from seed the tree has a
2 metre deep taproot. However in cultivation, most plantations use
vegetative reproduction (cuttings) that results in a tree without
taproot.
Cacao pods
Cacao pods are the fruits of the cacao tree. Successfully pollinated
flowers mature into this ribbed and oval fruit. The ripening process
takes about five months. It is quite common to see both flowers and
pods together on the same tree throughout the year. The thick shelled
cacao pod contains "mucilage", a sweet white pulp that surrounds the
bitter cocoa beans.
Each tree produces about 20 pods and each pod
contains between 20 and 60 seeds. In order to produce one
kilogramme of cocoa paste about 10 pods are required. Healthy
mature pods will eventually rot on the tree unless picked by an animal
or farmer. When the pods ripen they turn from green or yellow to orange
or red.
Cocoa beans
Cocoa beans, the base for making chocolate, are the seeds of the cacao
tree. They are found inside the cacao pods, surrounded by a sweet
white pulp. Each pod contains between 20 and 60 cocoa beans. A
variety of chemicals, including theobromine which is very similar to
caffeine, give the seeds a bitter flavour. Beans can only germinate
within 2 weeks of being harvested.
When monkeys, birds, human or other
animals break open the pods to reach the delicious sweet pulp, they
spit out the bitter-tasting seeds. This is the clever adaptation that
the cacao tree evolved so that its seeds hit the forest floor and
sprout into new trees.
Medicinal Action and Uses
Cocoa
is prepared by grinding the beans into a paste between hot rollers and
mixing it with sugar and starch, part of the fat being removed.
Chocolate is prepared in much the same way, but the fat is retained.
Unfermented cocoa seeds and the seed coat are used to treat a variety
of ailments, including
- diabetes,
- digestive and
- chest complaints.
- Cocoa
powder, prepared from fermented cocoa beans, is used to prevent heart
disease.
- Cocoa butter is taken to lower cholesterol levels,
It is also used widely in foods and pharmaceutical preparations, as well as being used as a rich moisturiser for the skin.
Oil
of Theobroma or
cacao butter is a yellowish white solid, with an odour
resembling that of cocoa, taste bland and agreeable; generally extracted
by expression. It is used as an
- ingredient in cosmetic ointments and in
- pharmacy for coating pills and
- preparing suppositories.
- It has
excellent emollient properties and
- is used to soften and protect chapped
hands and lips.
- Theobromine, the alkaloid contained in the beans,
resembles caffeine in its action, but its effect on the central nervous
system is less powerful.
- Its action on muscle, the kidneys and the heart
is more pronounced.
- It is used principally for its diuretic effect due
to stimulation of the renal epithelium;
- it is especially useful when
there is an accumulation of fluid in the body resulting from cardiac
failure, when
- it is often given with digitalis to relieve dilatation.
- It
is also employed in high blood pressure as it dilates the
blood-vessels.
- It is best administered in powders or cachets.
Dosage---Theobromine, 5 to 10 grains.
The Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs
used parts from the tree to
- treat anxiety,
- fever,
- fatigue, and
- coughs.
- Five hundred years ago the plant was brought to Europe, where it was
used to treat kidney stones and
- cuts and
- burns, among other things.
- Recent research shows that chocolate contains polyphenols, which prevent
heart disease.
Soil Improvement
The crushed shells of cocoa beans are used as an alternative to peat
mulch. Mulches are layered on to the soil surface to suppress weeds,
conserve moisture, improve its visual appearance and minimize erosion.
Not only does this make good use of cocoa-shell, which is a by-product
of the chocolate industry, but it also helps reduce the use of peat.
Peat
bogs are important sites for wildlife and also help to protect the
earth from global warming. In Great Britain, over 94% of the 69,700
hectares of peat bogs have been damaged or destroyed. Most of this
damage has occurred in the last 50 or so years, since the promotion of
large-scale use of peat for the horticultural industry, which now
discourages this.
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