Cacao Beans



DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY
Cacao was named Theobroma by Linnaeus, the word meaning
'food of the gods,' so called from the goodness of its seeds.
Mexicans named the pounded seeds 'Chocolate.'
The tree is handsome, 12 to 16 feet high; trunk about 5 feet long;
wood light and white coloured; bark brown;
Ieaves lanceolate, bright green, entire;
flowers small reddish, almost odourless;
fruit yellowy red, smooth; rind fleshcoloured; pulp white;
when seeds are ripe they rattle in the capsule when shaken;
each capsule contains about twenty-five seeds;
if separated from the capsule they soon become infertile,
but if kept therein they retain their fertility for a long time.
The tree bears its leaves, flowers and fruit (like the orange tree)
all the year round, but the usual season for gathering
the fruit is June and December.
In Mexico during the time of the Aztec kings the small seeds
were utilized as coins twelve approximating to the value of 1d.,
the smallest actual coin in use then being worth about 6d.
The seeds were necessary for small transactions.
The method is still in use in some parts of Mexico.
The tree is generally cultivated on large estates
under the shade of other trees,
such as the banana and develops the pods continuously.
When ripe they are cut open and the beans or nuts surrounded
by their sweetish acid pulp are allowed to ferment so that
they may be more easily separated from the shell.
The beans are then usually dried in the sun,
though sometimes in a steam drying shed.


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