Cacao
Theobroma cacao
Mallow family (Malvaceae)
The chocolate tree
The cocoa tree grows in Latin America in the dense forests around the equator. It is a finicky plant: the moisture conditions must be just right and the neighbouring trees need to provide plenty of shade.
For centuries this small, branching tree with its leathery leaves has provided the raw material for e.g. chocolate. From the small, subtle, pink coloured flower that grow directly on the trunk, a large fruit develops inside which can be found the cocoa beans.
Indigenous tribes ate the flesh of the fruit and they also made a drink from the beans. Chocolate was produced later. The distinctive chocolate flavour only develops when the cocoa bean undergoes a fermentation process brought about by various fungi and bacteria.
The dried beans are exported worldwide including to the largest cocoa processor in the world: the Netherlands.
Themes
Crown jewel of Royal Burgers' Zoo.
The cocoa plant produces cocoa beans from which chocolate is made.
Unfermented cocoa seeds and the seed coat are used to treat a variety of ailments including diabetes, digestive- and chest complaints. Cocoa powder is used to prevent heart disease and cocoa butter is taken to lower cholesterol levels.
Details
| Description: | Tree, up to 5-8 m. |
|---|---|
| Distributions: | Native to tropical america; now cultivated elsewhere in the tropics |
| Habitat: | Evergreen tropical rainforest, understorey. |
| Hardiness: | Warmer than 59 f (heated glasshouse - tropical) |
| Flower color: | Yellow, white, pink |
| Notes on flowers: | Cocoa flowers are small, yellowish white to pale pink, and grouped together in clusters arising directly from the trunk (cauliflory); flowers produced throughout the year. |