Cacao Pod
This is a cacao pod...
The ovoid fruit is typically 15-30 cm long and 8-10 cm wide. When ripe, it attains a yellow-to-orange tinge and weighs about 500 g. The pod contains 20 to 60 seeds, embedded in a white pulp, usually called beans. Each seed contains a significant amount of fat (40-50% as cocoa butter).
Theobroma cacao is a small evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds are used to make cocoa and chocolate.
An active constituent is theobromine, a compound somewhat similar to caffeine. Theobroma actually means food of the gods, while cacao probably comes from the Ycatec Maya word cacau.
At the Spice Tour Zanzibar, Tanzania
East Africa
November 2005
Cacao Pod
This is a cacao pod...
The ovoid fruit is typically 15-30 cm long and 8-10 cm wide. When ripe, it attains a yellow-to-orange tinge and weighs about 500 g. The pod contains 20 to 60 seeds, embedded in a white pulp, usually called beans. Each seed contains a significant amount of fat (40-50% as cocoa butter).
Theobroma cacao is a small evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds are used to make cocoa and chocolate.
An active constituent is theobromine, a compound somewhat similar to caffeine. Theobroma actually means food of the gods, while cacao probably comes from the Ycatec Maya word cacau.
At the Spice Tour Zanzibar, Tanzania
East Africa
November 2005