The cacao tree is native to the Amazon Basin. It was domesticated by the Olmecs (Mexico). More than 4,000 years ago, it was consumed by pre-hispanic cultures along the Yucatán, including the Maya, and as far back as Olmeca civilization in spiritual ceremonies. It also grows in the foothills of the Andes in the Amazon and Orinoco basins of South America, in Colombia and Venezuela. Wild cacao still grows there. Its range may have been larger in the past; evidence of its wild range may be obscured by cultivation of the tree in these areas since long before the Spanish arrived.
As of November 2018, evidence suggests that cacao was first domesticated in equatorial South America, before being domesticated in Central America roughly 1,500 years later. Artifacts found at Santa-Ana-La Florida, in Ecuador, indicate that the Mayo-Chinchipe people were cultivating cacao as long as 5,300 years ago. Chemical analysis of residue extracted from pottery excavated at an archaeological site at Puerto Escondido, in Honduras, indicates that cocoa products were first consumed there sometime between 1500 and 1400 BC.
Cacao trees grow in a limited geographical zone, of about 20° to the north and south of the Equator. Nearly 70% of the world crop today is grown in West Africa. The cacao plant was first given its botanical name by Swedish natural scientist Carl Linnaeus in his original classification of the plant kingdom, where he called it Theobroma ("food of the gods") cacao.
Theobroma cacao, also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small (4–8 m (13–26 ft) tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae, native to the deep tropical regions of Mesoamerica. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate.Historically, chocolate makers have recognized three main cultivar groups of cacao beans used to make cocoa and chocolate: Forastero, Criollo and Trinitario. The most prized, rare, and expensive is the Criollo group, the cocoa bean used by the Maya. Only 10% of chocolate is made from Criollo, which is arguably less bitter and more aromatic than any other bean. In November 2000, the cacao beans coming from Chuao were awarded an appellation of origin under the title "Cacao de Chuao" (from Spanish-cacao of Chuao).
The cacao bean in 80% of chocolate is made using beans of the Forastero group, the main and most ubiquitous variety being the Amenolado variety, while the arriba variety (such as the Nacional variety) are less commonly found in Forastero produce. Forastero trees are significantly hardier and more disease-resistant than Criollo trees, resulting in cheaper cacao beans.
Harvesting of cocoa beans can proceed all year, but the bulk of the crop is gathered in two flush periods occurring from October to February and from May to August. The ripe seed pods are cut from the trees and split open with machetes. The beans, removed from the pods with their surrounding pulp, are accumulated in leaf-covered heaps, in leaf-lined holes dug in the ground, or in large shallow boxes having perforated bottoms to provide for drainage.
The pulp of common grades (Forastero) is allowed to ferment for five to seven days, and the pulp of the more distinctively flavoured grades (Criollo) for one to three days. Frequent turnings dissipate excess heat and provide uniformity. During fermentation, the juicy sweatings of the pulp are drained away, the germ in the seed is killed by the increased heat, and flavour development begins. The beans become plump and full of moisture, and the interior develops a reddish brown colour and a heavy, sharp fragrance. The fermented beans are sun-dried or kiln-dried to reduce moisture content to 6–7 percent and bagged for shipment.
