Cacao

Cacao is a small evergreen understorey tree that bears its fruit directly on the trunk and thick branches. The ribbed, football-shaped pods ripen to yellow, orange or red and hold roughly twenty to sixty seeds embedded in sweet, white, sticky pulp. A fresh seed is plump and flattened, with a purple or whitish interior that tastes intensely bitter and astringent. Flavour only develops after the seeds are fermented for several days, then dried and roasted.

Cacao is sold as whole dried beans, crushed nibs, cocoa powder, cocoa butter (the pale fat) and chocolate. Criollo, Forastero and Trinitario are the three traditional groups of cultivars, and fine-flavour types are prized for their fruity and floral notes.

Cacao belongs to the genus Theobroma and is native to the humid forests of the upper Amazon basin in South America. Archaeological and genetic work points to early use and domestication in the western Amazon, with traces of cacao found on pottery from an Ecuadorian site thousands of years old, before the crop travelled north into Mesoamerica.

The name has deep roots. Linnaeus coined Theobroma from Greek words meaning food of the gods. The word cacao itself comes from Mesoamerican languages, reaching Spanish through the Maya and Nahuatl terms for the seed and its drink. The origin of the word chocolate is more debated, but it is usually traced to a Nahuatl name for a bitter, frothy cacao beverage.

In Mesoamerica cacao was far more than a food. The Maya and later the Aztecs drank it as a bitter, spiced, frothy beverage, often flavoured with chilli, vanilla or flowers, and served it at ceremonies, weddings and elite gatherings. Beans circulated as a kind of currency, and rulers received them as tribute.

After the Spanish conquest, cacao reached Europe in the sixteenth century, where the drink was sweetened with sugar and served hot at court and later in chocolate houses. Plantations spread through the Caribbean, Venezuela and Ecuador, often built on forced labour.

The industrial age transformed the product. In 1828 Coenraad van Houten patented a press that separated cocoa butter from the solids, producing cocoa powder. Fry in England made a moulded eating chocolate in the 1840s, and in the 1870s Swiss makers combined chocolate with milk. Cacao also moved across the Atlantic, and today West Africa, led by Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, grows the majority of the world's crop, much of it on small family farms. Concerns about child labour, deforestation and farmer incomes have made certification and traceability major topics in the modern cocoa trade.

Cacao seeds are fermented, dried, roasted, shelled and ground into a paste called cocoa liquor. Pressing the liquor yields cocoa butter and cocoa powder; recombining the ingredients with sugar and often milk makes chocolate in its many forms. Nibs add crunch to granola, baked goods and savoury sauces such as Mexican mole.

Cocoa butter is used in confectionery and in cosmetics and skincare. The sweet pulp around the fresh seeds is increasingly made into juices and spirits. Traditionally, cacao drinks were used in ritual contexts, and in folk medicine the seeds and butter have been applied for a range of minor complaints. Unsweetened cocoa powder is commonly used in cooking for deep flavour with little sugar.

Cocoa solids are rich in flavanols, plant compounds that have been studied for effects on blood vessel function and blood pressure. Some trials and reviews suggest small short-term benefits for blood pressure, though results vary and most products on the shelf are processed in ways that reduce flavanol content. Cocoa also supplies fibre, magnesium, iron and copper.

Most chocolate products are high in sugar and saturated fat, so the healthiest choices are plain cocoa or dark chocolate with a high cocoa percentage eaten in moderation. Health claims about chocolate should be viewed as modest and not a substitute for an overall balanced diet.