Plants for Food: Chocolate Cocoa Tree

Description of plant: The Cocoa Tree is a deciduous tree that grows up to 15m in height, and can live up to 100 years Young cocoa leaves are large, red and glossy. Mature cocoa leaves are dark green The flowers of the cocoa tree are tiny, have 5-petals and are either pink or white. The fruit of the cocoa tree grows as green or maroon pods on the trunk and main branches. The pods are shaped like stretched-out melons. When the pods are ripe they turn golden in color

Environment: This tree needs shade so usually grows under rainforest trees in the understory of the rainforest The Cocoa tree is moisture loving, so they often grow near rivers The trees require deep, slightly acidic soil The cocoa tree requires stable, hot temperatures to grow – between 21 °C to 32°C and a lot of rain. Is native to Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Ghana, Nigeria, Indonesia and Malaysia

Processing: Cocoa bean to chocolate The beans of the plant are what is used to create chocolate The beans are collected by hand and are then inspected and cleaned. The beans of a cocoa pod are spread out in the sun to dry. Next the beans are roasted, shelled and crushed in a factory. The inside of the bean is called the nib. Once the beans have been roasted and then shelled, the nib is ground into a paste. A giant press is used to separate the cocoa butter (white chocolate) from the powder in the crushed beans.

References http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/learn-about-cocoa/tree-to-table/growing.asp http://www.chocolatewrappers.info/cacao.htm http://www.thestoryofchocolate.com/Where/tropics.cfm?ItemNumber=3300 http://www.xocoatl.org/tree.htm Science Focus 7