Cocoa

All chocolate products are made from cocoa.

Cocoa beans are smooth or striated cucumber. The thick shell covers from 20 to 60 flat or spherical seeds, called cocoa beans.

Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is a species of plant from the mallow family (Malvaceae), formerly classified as pustule (Sterculiaceae). It comes from the humid tropical forests of South and Central America, and is also widespread in cultivation. Currently, the largest areas of crops are found in Africa. Cocoa beans and Cocoa butter are produced from cocoa beans, and from them, drinks and chocolate.

Flowers

Fruits

Cross-section of the cocoa fruit

Morphology

Cut:
Evergreen tree with a dense crown 10-15 m high or shrub up to 5 m in height. It has a thin, cinnamon-brown bark.

Leaves:
Alternating foliage. Leaves oblong-ovate to broadly lanceolate, leathery. They are 20-30cm long. They grow throughout the year.

flowers:
Pink to red, set on short stalks growing in bunches directly from the trunk and branches. This phenomenon is called kaulifloria. The flowers are made up
from 5 red chalice parcels, 5 lemon yellow ones with red strips of crown petals, 1 five-legged column and 5 stamens.

Fruits:
Oval berries (250 X 100 mm), striated or plain in the shape of an oversized cucumber. They are covered with a thick shell. They contain 20 to 60 flat or spherical seeds ("cocoa beans"), which are plunged in a pleasant-smelling, reddish pulp with a sweetish taste.

Application

Raw material:
Mature fruits are sprinkled into prisms, which undergo a pre-fermentation within 4-5 days. Then the seeds are extracted, which are subjected to secondary fermentation and then dried.

The next step is roasting and grinding, as a result of which a dense mass is obtained, from which cocoa butter is obtained in the process of pressing, and the skimped exfoliated, subjected to re-grinding, take the form of cocoa powder - cocoa.

Groceries:

• cocoa
• cocoa butter

There are many farms in Jamaica where the natives grow cocoa. It is a tedious job. My friend, European Mrs. Dee, who has lived here for many years, created a support movement and training for farmers, so as to show how to make money on this crop and not be economically exploited by companies buying this very important organic raw material.