Cocoa tree is the source of one of the world's most delicious and familiar products... chocolate.

    The edible properties of Theobroma cacao were discovered over 2,000 years ago by the local people of Central America living deep in the tropical rainforests. In the year 2008-2009 world cocoa production was 3,515,000 tonnes. This is equivalent to the weight of a line of double-decker buses stretching more than three times the length of Britain!


    Chocolate is more than just a delicacy; evidence suggests that eating between 46 and 105g chocolate a day can have a moderate effect on lowering blood pressure. Cocoa has been used for an array of medicinal purposes. 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 seeds, is used to prevent heart disease. Cocoa butter is taken to lower cholesterol levels, although its efficacy is unclear.

    It is also used widely in foods and pharmaceutical preparations, as well as being used as a rich moisturiser for the skin.

Species Profile
    Geography and distribution

    Cocoa is native to Mexico, Central America and northern South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, Surinam and French Guiana). It has also been introduced as a crop plant into many tropical African and Asian countries.

    In its natural habitat, cocoa grows in the understorey of evergreen tropical rainforest. It often grows in clumps along river banks, where the roots may be flooded for long periods of the year. Cocoa grows at low elevations, usually below 300 metres above sea level, in areas with 1,000 to 3,000 mm rainfall per year.

    Description

    Overview: Cocoa is a spindly, evergreen tree 5 to 8 m tall, found growing in the shade of giant trees occupying the top layer of the rain forest. It has a taproot, which penetrates far below the soil surface.

    Leaves: Its dark green leaves are shiny, leathery, egg-shaped or elliptic in shape and 20 to 35 cm long and 7 to 8 cm wide. The leaf surfaces are hairless or covered in scattered star-shaped hairs. The base of the leaf is rounded or heart-shaped, and the tip is long and drawn out allowing water to drip from it.

    Flowers: Cocoa flowers are small, yellowish white to pale pink, and grouped together in clusters arising directly from the trunk (cauliflory). Flowers are produced throughout the year.

    Fruit: In the wild, cocoa trees are pollinated by midges, and only about 5% of flowers receive enough pollen to start fruit development. When they are pollinated there is a dramatic change as the tiny flowers develop into massive fruits.