Cocoa bean

Cocoa is the dried and partially fermented fatty seed of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made. In the United States, 'cocoa' often refers to cocoa powder, the dry powder made by grinding cocoa seeds and removing the cocoa butter from the dark, bitter cocoa solids. By itself it has an extremely bitter flavor.

Hot cocoa is often confused with hot chocolate, but hot cocoa is made from the cocoa solids, while true hot chocolate is made from whole chocolate.

History

Chocolate and cocoa are made from the beans of the cacao tree, which apparently originated in the foothills of the Andes in the Amazon and Orinoco basins of South America. The tree was introduced into Central America by the ancient Maya, and was cultivated in Mexico by the Toltecs and later by the Aztecs.

Cocoa was an important commodity in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Spanish chroniclers of the conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés relate that when Moctezuma II, emperor of the Aztecs, dined he took no other beverage than chocolate, served in a golden goblet and eaten with a golden spoon. Flavored with vanilla and spices, his chocolate was whipped into a froth that dissolved in the mouth. No less than 50 pitchers of it were prepared for the emperor each day, and 2000 more for nobles of his court.

Chocolate was introduced to Europe by the Spaniards and became a popular beverage by 1700. They also introduced the cacao tree into the West Indies and the Philippines. It was used in alchemical processes, where it was known as Black Bean.

The cacao plant was first given its name by Swedish natural scientist Carl von Linné (1707-1778), who called it "theobroma cacao" or "food of the gods".

World Production

In 2004 the world production of cocoa beans FAOSTAT (in tonnes) per country was assorted as follows;

1. Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) - 1,331,494 t
2. Ghana - 736,000 t
3. Indonesia - 430,000 t
4. Nigeria - 366,000 t
5. Brazil - 169,416 t
6. Cameroon - 130,000 t
7. Ecuador - 88,000 t

The global production went

From 1,556,484 t in 1974,
To 1,810,611 t in 1984,
To 2,672,173 t in 1994,
To record 3,607,052 t in 2004.

An increase of 99.2% within 30 years.

The use of chocolate, cocoa and other products is world-wide. Belgium has the highest per capita consumption of cocoa at 5.5 kg, ten times the world-wide average [1].

Prices for the commodity reached a five year high in November 2004; this is because exports from Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) are likely to be cut due to escalating violence in the region.

Harvesting

A pod has a rough leathery rind about 3 cm thick. It is filled with sweet, slimy pulp, enclosing from 30 to 50 large almond-like seeds or "beans" that are fairly soft and pinkish or purplish in color. As soon as the pods are ripe, they are harvested from the trunks or branches of the Cocoa tree with a curved knife on a long pole.

Processing

The harvested pods are then opened with a machete, the pulp and cocao seeds are removed and the rind is discarded. The pulp and seeds are then either piled in heaps, placed in bins, or laid out on grates for several days. During this time, the seeds and pulp undergoes "sweating", where the thick pulp liquifies as it undergoes fermentation. The fermented pulp trickles away, leaving cocao seeds behind to be collected. The quality of the beans, which originally have a strong bitter taste, depends upon sweating. If it is overdone, the resulting cocao may be ruined; if underdone the cocao seed maintains a flavor similar to raw potatoes and become susceptible to mildew. The liquified pulp is used by some cocoa producing countries to distill alcoholic spirits.

Boy collecting cacao
Cacao drying under the sun
Cacao drying square in front of church, Chuao, Venezuela.
Woman drying cacao

The fermented beans are then dried by spreading them out over a large surface and constantly raking them. In large plantations, this is done on huge trays under the sun or by using artificial heat. Small plantations may dry their harvest on little trays or on cowhides. Finally, the beans are trodden and shuffled about (often using bare human feet) and sometimes, during this process, red clay mixed with water is sprinkled over the beans to obtain a finer color, polish, and protection against molds during shipment to factories in the United States, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and other countries. About 3,000,000 tonnes of cocoa are grown each year. The Netherlands is the leading cocoa processing country, followed by the U.S.

Producing chocolate

To make 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of chocolate, about 300–600 beans are processed. In a factory, the beans are washed and roasted. Next they are de-hulled by a "nibber" machine that also removes the germ. The nibs are ground between three sets of stones until they emerge as a thick creamy paste. Cocoa powder is made from this "liquor" by removing part of its fatty oils (the "cocoa butter" used in confectionery, soaps, and cosmetics), either with a hydraulic press or by using the Broma process. With starch and sugar added, the liquor is churned and beaten in a "Conges" machine to produce sweet chocolate.

Adding an alkali produces Dutch process cocoa powder, which has less acidity and is what is generally available in most of the world. Regular or nonalkalized cocoa is lighter in colour and sharper in flavour. It is acidic, so when added to recipes with an alkaline ingredient like baking soda, the two react and leaven a product. Dutch processed cocoa is less acidic, darker and more mellow in flavour.

Use of cocoa

Uses of cocoa are numerous. It may be used in cakes, creams, drinks, toppings.

Cocoa has about twice the antioxidants (thought to prevent cancer) of red wine, and up to three times those found in green tea.

Issues with cocoa as a commodity

Many cocoa farmers receive a low price for their produce. This has led to cocoa and chocolate being available as 'fair trade' items in some countries, but this fair trade remains a tiny percentage of total trade.
Slavery has commonly been used in its production: see Cocoa Protocol for an effort to end this.
Pollination is exclusively by midges, which may be affected by pesticides.

External links

International Cocoa Organization
The Food of the Gods - the nature, growth, cultivation, manufacture and history of Cocoa, by Brandon Head, from Project Gutenberg