Theobroma cacao
Theobroma cacao L. is the scientific name given to the cacao tree or cocoa tree , native to subtropical tropical regions of South America: Tropical American, evergreen plant of the Malvaceae family. Theobroma means, in Greek, "food of the gods". The word cacao is believed to come from the languages of the Mixe-Zoque family that the Olmecs would have spoken. In Yucatec Maya, kaj means bitter and kab means juice. Alternatively, some linguists propose the theory that over time it underwent several phonetic transformations that gave way to to the word cacaoatl, which later evolved to cacao.
Currently, Ghana and the Ivory Coast are the two main producers and exporters of cocoa globally. In several investigations carried out in these countries, many related cases of slavery, human trafficking and child exploitation have been demonstrated. Many activist associations have wanted to raise awareness about the injustices behind chocolate, boycotting producing companies such as Cargill Cocoa or Olam International or selling companies such as Nestlé and Hershey's. In July 2019, Ghana and the Ivory Coast reached a joint agreement to set a minimum price for the sale of cocoa, to dignify the lives of its workers.
Etymology of cacao/cocoa
The cacao plant grows wild in the Amazon basin and it is theorized that it was transported in pre-Columbian times to Mesoamerica by humans, since it does not seem likely that it crossed naturally, due to the cold mountain range of the Andes in the west or the jungle Gulf of Urabá in the northeast. The first evidence of the use and domestication of cocoa was found in what is now Puerto Escondido (now Honduras), about three thousand five hundred years ago. In this sense, linguists consider that the word cacao originally belongs to the Mixe-Zoque family, which was the language the Olmecs theorized to speak.
The origin of the word, despite being disputed, we can say with certainty that it passed into Spanish via loan from the Nahuatl language, where the tree was called cacahuacuahuitl and the fruit was simply cacahuatl. This word early gave rise to two Nahuatlisms; First of all, the usual way of writing it in the XVI century was cacaoatl, hence began to be used in an abbreviated form "cacao", removing the ending "-atl"; and so it went to Spanish. The same original word continued to be used but acquired a different spelling, becoming cacahuate; later this word began to be used to refer to another plant (Arachis hypogaea) that was originally called tlalcacahuatl in Nahuatl and that we now simply call peanuts.
The word "cocoa" It passed into the English language as cocoa, to designate the main ingredient of chocolate (cocoa powder), later it acquired the meaning of chocolate itself. It was only during the last century that the anglicism cocoa became popular as a synonym for "chocolate powder" in Spanish-speaking countries. The Jirajara indigenous people of the South of Lake Maracaibo called cacao: espití, chiré and tiboo. The container or braserillo where they ingested the already prepared product was called: chorote. The Genoese adventurer Galeotto Cey between 1549-54 already mentions the case. He arrived with the Belzares in Venezuela in 1528.
Other meanings
The word can refer to three closely related concepts:
- Cacao It can refer, first, to the fruit of the cacaotero, similar to the palm tree, understood this good as the mazorca that grows directly from its trunk, as well as the seeds contained in that fruit.
- Second, the cocoa is also the product that results from the fermentation and drying of these seeds (or # or maracasthe fruit of the cocoa tree. The cocoa, understood thus, is the basic component of chocolate.
- Finally, it is also called cocoa the dry powder that is obtained by grinding the grains and extracting, in whole or in part, the fat or cocoa butter.
Classification and description
Biologically, cacao is a plant native to the Amazon basin; there is evidence of its cultivation and consumption in that part of the world for 5,500 years. difficult to propagate by natural means.
The cocoa tree is a tree that needs moisture and heat. It is evergreen and is always in bloom, it grows between 5 and 10 m tall. Requires shade (they grow in the shade of other larger trees such as coconut and banana), protection from wind, and rich, porous soil, but does not do well in hot-vapor lowlands. Its ideal height is about 400 m s. no. m.. The soil must be rich in nitrogen, magnesium and potassium, and the climate must be humid, with a temperature between 20 °C and 30 °C.
Small tree, evergreen, 4 to 7 m tall if cultivated, in its wild form it can grow up to 20 m. Leaves large, alternate, pendulous, elliptical or oblong, long-pointed, slightly thick, margin smooth, hanging on a petiole. The trunk is generally straight, the primary branches are formed in terminal whorls with three to six twigs and the group is called a "pinwheel". It is a cauliflora species, that is to say, the flowers appear inserted on the trunk or the old ramifications. Dark brown, cracked, rough and thin bark. Flowers in clusters along the trunk and branches, star-shaped pink, purple, and white. The fruit is a large berry commonly called "cob", fleshy, oblong to ovate, yellow or purple in color, 15-30 cm long by 7-10 cm thick, pointed and with longitudinal channels, each ear typically contains between thirty and forty seeds embedded in a mass of pulp developed from the outer layers of the testa.
The fruit turns red or purplish-yellow and weighs about 450 g when ripe (15-30 cm long by 7-12 cm wide). A tree begins to yield when it is four or five years old. In a year, when mature, it can have 6000 flowers but only twenty maracas. Despite the fact that its fruits ripen throughout the year, two harvests are normally carried out: the main one (which begins towards the end of the rainy season and continues until the beginning of the dry season) and the intermediate one (at the beginning of the following period of rains), and five to six months are necessary between fertilization and harvest.
Conservation status
It is likely that this plant was domesticated in Mexico. It is found in its wild and cultivated form. Little is known about gene flow in wild populations. It is now cultivated in the humid regions of both hemispheres. Ivory Coast, Brazil, Malaysia and Ghana are the main exporters of cocoa. Three types of cacao cultivars have evolved: the Criollo developed in northern South America and Central America, the Forastero from the Amazon Basin, and the Trinitario located in Trinidad. Given its high production, the Forastero type dominates world production. The Trinitario type was classified as a Forastero type, is of recent origin and can be artificially reproduced. It is likely a segregating stock originating from a cross between Forastero and Criollo and is known in the trade as "cacao fino".
Distribution and domestication
By genetic studies, traces of 8000 to 10,000 years ago were discovered in the Lacandona jungle in southeastern Mexico, which classifies it as the region with the oldest cacao domestication identified to date. There is a vast region where it expanded later that includes countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil, specifically where the Napo, Putumayo and Caquetá rivers are born, tributaries of the Amazon. The presence of cocoa, although it is very abundant In the Amazon, scientific evidence shows that it spread from Mexico to South America. It remains a mystery how it got to the Amazon, where it has been cultivated for only the last 200 years and comparatively 3,000 years old in cultivation in Mexico, which is why it is considered the cradle of its domestication. In Mexico, it also exists in the wild, it is not only cultivated, growing in hot and very humid regions from Nayarit to Tabasco and Chiapas. It was introduced to the African continent, currently responsible for 60% of world production.
In 2013, during the III International Meeting of Amazon Archeology, held in the capital of Ecuador, a team of Ecuadorian and French archaeologists presented evidence that cocoa was cultivated and consumed 5,500 years ago in the region of what It is currently the province of Zamora Chinchipe, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, due to the Mayo-Chinchipe-Marañón culture. In this study, abundant evidence of commercial exchange with the cultures of the coast was also found, which is the oldest evidence of the use of cocoa as a merchandise.
T. cacao is widely distributed from southeastern Mexico to the Amazon basin. Originally there were two hypotheses about its domestication; one said that there were two sources of domestication, one in the Selva Lacandona area of Mexico and the other in the lowlands of South America. However, more recent studies on the patterns of DNA diversity suggest that this is not the case. In one study, samples were taken from 1,241 trees and classified into 10 different genetic groups. This study also identified areas, for example around Iquitos in present-day Peru and Ecuador, where representatives of various genetic groups originated more than 5,000 years ago, leading to the development of the variety, the Nacional cacao. This result suggests that this is where the T. cacao was originally domesticated, probably for the pulp that surrounds the beans, which is eaten as a snack and fermented into a mildly alcoholic drink. Using the DNA sequences and comparing them with data derived from climate models and Known conditions suitable for cacao, one study refined the domestication view, linking the area of greatest cacao genetic diversity to a bean-shaped zone encompassing Ecuador, the Brazil-Peru border, and the southern part of the border between Colombia and Brazil. Climate models indicate that at the height of the last ice age, 21,00 years ago, when the suitable habitat for cocoa was the smallest, this area was still suitable, thus constituting a refuge for the species.
Cocoa grows well as an understory plant in humid forest ecosystems. The same is true of abandoned cultivated trees, so it is difficult to distinguish truly wild trees from those whose parents may have originally been cultivated.
Cacao is found in its natural state in the lower floors of humid forests and thrives best between 18º N and 15º S of the Equator at an altitude below 1,250 m. It grows on flat or undulating topography. It grows on land that exceeds 50% slope, in ravines, on the banks of streams. It requires high average annual temperatures with small fluctuations, high humidity and a cover that protects it from direct sunlight and evaporation. Precipitation should be 1,300 to 2,800 mm per year with a short dry season, less than two and a half months. The climate must be constantly humid, with an average daily temperature between 20 and 30 °C, with a minimum of 16 °C. For its full development it requires deep, fertile and well-drained soils. Primary species, which develops in the shade of larger trees as it requires protection for its normal development and production. It shares the second and third strata of the tropical forests.
Varieties of cocoa
Theobroma cacao was described by Carlos Linnaeus and published in Species Plantarum 2: 782, in the year 1753.
- Accepted varieties are:
- Theobroma cacao f. pentagonum (Bernoulli) Cuatrec.
- Theobroma cacao subsp. sphaerocarpum (A.Chev.) Cuatrec.
Traditionally there are three main varieties of cocoa: Criollo, Trinitario and Forastero. Using the genetic map of cacao, the most recent research indicates that there are at least ten main families of cacao.
- The criollo is cultivated in Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Honduras, Colombia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Trinidad, Bolivia, Paraguay, Jamaica, Mexico, Grenada, Dominican Republic and the rest of the Caribbean, in the Indian Ocean Zone and in Indonesia. It is a cocoa recognized as of high quality, of low tannin content, reserved for the manufacture of the finest chocolates. The tree is fragile and low-performance. The grain is fine, soft and very aromatic shell. It represents, at most, 10% of world production. An example of the Creole variety is the Ocumare cocoa from the Ocumare Valley of the Costa, Venezuela.
- The or peasant: originating from the high Amazon. It is a normal cocoa, with the highest tannin. A variety is the most cultivated in Africa. The common grain has a thick shell, is resistant and not aromatic. To neutralize its imperfections, it requires an intense tueste, from which the taste and aroma of the most chocolates are derived. The best producers use foreign grains in their mixtures, to give body and breadth to chocolate, but the acidity, balance and complexity of the best chocolates comes from the Creole variety. Another variety of well-known globally known forastero is the so-called Fino de Aroma National Cocoa, or also known as Cacao Arriba from Ecuador.
- Them hybrids, product of the mixture between Creole and foreigner. A hybrid spice is the trinitarian cocoa whose quality is closer to the outsider. As its name suggests, it is native to Trinidad where, after a terrible hurricane that destroyed virtually all the plantations of the Island in 1727, it emerged as a result of a process of crossing. Thus, it inherited the robustness of the forastero cocoa and the delicate taste of the criollo cocoa, and is used also normally mixed with other varieties. As an example of a trinitarian we have the Carenero Superior, of Barlovento, east of Caracas, in the state of Miranda, Venezuela. Cacao Castro Naranjal, a variety registered by Ecuadorian scientist Homero Castro Zurita, is the most productive cocoa according to the Ministry of Agriculture of Ecuador.
Cocoa parts
The main use of the cocoa fruit is the production of cocoa powder and fat or cocoa butter, both used mainly for the production of chocolate. Two thirds of the cocoa produced worldwide is used to make this product.
Products such as cocoa powder are extracted from cocoa, which is dry and dark brown in color and has the characteristic flavor of cocoa. It is bitter and is free of foreign impurities, odors or flavors. In addition to being used in the production of chocolate, it is used to flavor cookies, cakes, drinks and a wide variety of desserts.
The cocoa butter is also extracted, known as theobroma oil, it is the natural edible fat of the cocoa bean, extracted during the chocolate manufacturing process and cocoa powder. It is used by the pharmaceutical industry for the production of medicines; by the cosmetics industry for the manufacture of beauty products (skin cleansers, masks, etc.), as well as for the production of soaps.
Beverages can be made from the cocoa pulp, some with alcohol. Finally, the fruit peel is used to make infusions and is even used for animal feed, and jams can be made with its juice.
Harvesting and preparation for transformation into chocolate
Cocoa has a rough rind almost 4 cm thick. It is filled with a viscous, sweet and edible pink pulp, which contains thirty to fifty long grains (white and fleshy) arranged in rows on the lattice that forms this pulp. Cocoa beans or beans are shaped like beans: two parts and a germ surrounded by a casing rich in tannin. Its raw taste is very bitter and astringent.
In some regions, cocoa harvesting takes place throughout the year, although mainly between the months of May and December. In other parts of the world, West Africa for example, the main crop is harvested between September and February.
- Guided by the color of the pod and by the sound that makes its interior when being slightly beaten, the collector knows when the time of the harvest has come. As soon as the corns mature, the so-called tombs, with a hoz or with a special hoz-like knife fixed on a perch, cut the pendulum of the mazorca, taking care not to damage the flowers and the nearby shoots. Then the fruit is cut with the machete in a transversal sense.
- The pods are cut without spoiling the seeds. These are taken with a spoon-shaped utensil with the pulp around them, and are available in a conical pile on a base of banana leaves. Then roll the leaves of the base and add other large leaves to wrap the piles completely. Thus begins the fermentation process, which lasts between three and seven days according to the flavor they want.
Biological process: fermentation
Bacteria and yeasts present in the air multiply in the pulp that surrounds the grains due to its concentration of sugars and this decomposes, forming an acidic liquid and alcohol. This increases the temperature of the heap and transformations take place inside each grain. Its color changes from purple to chocolate brown and the smell of cocoa begins to manifest itself. Fermentation is sometimes omitted, there being planters and manufacturers for and against it. The purpose of this fermentation is twofold: first, the pulp generates acetic acid that evaporates and the seed swells, until it resembles a thick brown almond. Second, bitterness and astringency are reduced, and aroma precursors are developed. The quality of the beans depends on this fermentation process. If it is excessive, the cocoa can be ruined; if it is insufficient, it can acquire a taste of raw potatoes and are attacked by fungus.
Next, the beans are spread out and, while constantly raking, dried. In large plantations, this is done with huge trays, both outdoors for the sun's rays to act, and in sheds using artificial heat. The weight of the grains decreases with this process a quarter of its original weight.
In rural areas, hundreds of tons are dried in small trays or in skins, with poultry, pigs, dogs and other animals roaming free. In some cases, in certain regions of the Americas, the dance of cacao is still practiced: barefoot natives step and walk on the beans and, from time to time, during the "dance" Red clay is sprayed on the beans with water to obtain a better color, polishing and protection against fungus during the trip to the factories of the industrialized countries, where it will undergo the transformations aimed at finally obtaining the chocolate.
Torrefaction, husking, defatting
The cocoa undergoes a roasting process that further refines the aromas and reduces its astringency and bitter taste. It is separated from the husk and thus the grains (almonds or broad beans) are ready to be shredded (the nibs). By grinding a paste called liquor or cocoa paste with around 55% butter is obtained. By means of pressure in the presses, a large part of the cocoa butter is extracted, the fat fraction that will later be used for the manufacture of chocolate. Thus, the fraction that remains once the cocoa butter is separated is the cocoa cake, which retains a residual proportion of butter, generally between 10 and 20%, depending on the uses to which each cocoa is to be put. By grinding the cake gives rise to lean or defatted cocoa powder.
Natural cocoa and alkalized cocoa
Cocoa, without further treatment, is slightly acidic (pH 5-6), reddish in color and somewhat astringent in taste. It is called natural cocoa. For some applications that require a more chocolate flavor, greater solubility, and a darker color (which can reach black in some products, such as certain cookies), it undergoes an alkalization process. Through a potassium carbonate solution, high temperature and pressure, the resulting cocoa is called alkalinized cocoa. In the alkalinization process, a majority of the catechins, which are responsible for the vasodilator function of cocoa flavanols, are transformed into tannins. In this way, alkalized cocoa decreases its vasodilator and antioxidant effect that natural cocoa has.
Producing countries
Cocoa is grown primarily in West Africa, Central and South America, and Asia. According to annual production, collected by UNCTAD for the 2005/06 crop year, the eight largest producing countries in the world are (in descending order) Ivory Coast (38%), Ghana (19%), Indonesia (13%), Nigeria (5%), Brazil (5%), Cameroon (5%), Ecuador (4%) and Malaysia (1%). These countries represent 90% of world production.
The main producers are also the largest exporters, with the exception of Brazil and Malaysia, whose domestic consumption absorbs most of their production. In Latin America, for example, cocoa exports from the Dominican Republic exceed those of Brazil.
- North America: United States (Hawái and Puerto Rico), and Mexico
- Central America: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Panama, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Grenada and the Antilles.
- South America: Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Paraguay and Argentina (Misiones, Jujuy and Formosa).
- Africa: Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and Sao Tome and Principe.
- Asia: Indonesia (Java and Sumatra, mainly), India, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.
- Oceania: Samoa, Solomon Islands and New Guinea.
| Major cocoa producers (2018) (tonnes) | |
|---|---|
Ivory Coast Ivory Coast | 1.963.949 |
Ghana Ghana | 947.632 |
Indonesia Indonesia | 593.832 |
Nigeria Nigeria | 332.927 |
Cameroon Cameroon | 307.867 |
Brazil Brazil | 239.387 |
Ecuador Ecuador | 235.182 |
Peru Peru | 134.676 |
Dominican Republic Dominican Republic | 85.139 |
Colombia Colombia | 52.743 |
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone | 50.150 |
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea | 44.757 |
 Togo | 41.235 |
Mexico Mexico | 28,399 |
Uganda Uganda | 27.789 |
Venezuela Venezuela | 25.137 |
Guinea Guinea | 20.700 |
 India | 17.333 |
Haiti Haiti | 13.347 |
Guatemala Guatemala | 12.042 |
Source
Problems in cocoa production in Mexico
The problems derived from the low yield of the product, the lack of technology and the scarcity of support programs for the field have made the cocoa farmer unable to compete internationally and nationally.
The lack of a national product has caused cocoa manufacturers and marketers to seek new sources of supply and prefer cocoa imports.
In recent years there has been a great lack of interest in this raw material on the part of the new generations, which puts production at risk and considerably decreases the cultivation areas. Diseases, droughts and hurricanes are the main environmental problems that haunt cocoa production in Mexico.
Cocoa in the Mexican economy
More than 46,000 producers directly depend on the cultivation of this plant and 197,100 without considering the day laborers who are eventually hired in the municipalities that cultivate it. In addition to the fact that it is an important generator of jobs and income for the population in the productive and transformation phases.
The commercialization of cocoa begins when the producers harvest the product, this can occur in two ways depending on the size of the producer, that is, if the result of the production is micro, it is usually sent to the collection centers located in the region or through intermediary traders. If it is a macro production, you have the possibility of sending your merchandise to private collection centers, this refers to the centers of processing industries.
The traders in turn sell the product to industrial buyers, who will process it into chocolates, pasta, cocoas, soaps, cosmetics, etc.
All industries present different levels of technological development, from obsolete machinery to modern plants. Their differences are marked by multiple aspects such as:
- The service market, national, regional or local.
- Administrative, modern, traditional or family capacity.
- The degree of specialization or diversification: chocolates of large consumption or specials —coccies, coverages, organic, etc..
- The cocoa mixtures that use either fermented or washed.
Substitution of illicit crops for cocoa in Colombia
In 2007, the peasants of Pauna, San José de Borbur, Otanche and others in the western region of the department of Boyacá called a strike due to the government's will to carry out aerial spraying of glyphosate against illicit crops. One of the alternatives they proposed was comprehensive support for crop substitution. As a result of the dialogue, they were granted cocoa seeds and technical support from agronomists. Three years later, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime declared this region the first 100% coca-free region in the country.
In 2014 a sample from Pauna won the "Cacao de Oro" of the National Federation of Cocoa Growers and participated in the Salon du Chocolate in Paris. For that year, Colombian cocoa exports registered an increase of 15.5% compared to 2013, with sales of almost US$11 million. By then, Colombian cocoa exports registered an increasing behavior in the last 3 years, according to information from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism with data from the National Administrative Department of Statistics.
Historical notes
The first cacao trees grew naturally in the shade of the tropical forests of the Amazon and Orinoco basins, about four thousand years ago. The first cacao growers in Central America were located in present-day Puerto Escondido, in the department of Atlántida (Honduras), and it is believed that its cultivation could have started in the year 1100 a. C. To the time of the Olmec civilization, about 900 B.C. C. it is probable that the planting of cocoa was spreading in Mesoamerica.
The Olmecs were the first to domesticate and use cacao, around 1500 B.C. c.-400 a. C., but it was the Mayans who began to value it. It is worth mentioning that the Toltecs were aware of the stars, which allowed them to measure time and create a calendar that would help them identify the change of seasons to take advantage of the rains and raise the crops.
In 2006, researcher John Henderson, from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, carried out a study where he found that the oldest traces of the use of cocoa as a beverage dated back to 1,100 years before Christ.
However, later studies carried out by Mexican researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), from the universities of Columbia, Arizona, Yale, Wisconsin and Kennesaw, indicate that there is evidence of the consumption of cocoa as a drink in the period Formative (1900-900 BC), that is, eight hundred years earlier than previously believed.
Residues of a cocoa-based drink were located in a ceramic vessel found during excavations at the sacred site of Cerro Manatí, located within the communal land of Macayal, in the municipality of Hidalgotitlán, Veracruz, Mexico. The vessel was found associated with a large number of sumptuous objects, among which the following stand out: axes carved in green stone, jadeite, rubber balls, wooden mallets and several stakes with burned tips, as well as jobo, coyol, nanche, pumpkin, turtle bones, and white-tailed deer.
This context led the researchers to deduce that the vessel, possibly carbon-14 dated to 1750 B.C. C., with slightly divergent cylindrical walls, with a flat bottom and red slip on the lower part of the body and black spots, it was created to contain drinks such as 'chicha' (corn beer), chocolate or atole, preparations consumed exclusively by the hierarchs or people of high social prestige.
Evidence of cacao in this vessel located on the Gulf of Mexico coast indicates that the use of the beverage predates evidence found in the Mayan areas of Belize and in Puerto Escondido, Honduras.[citation required]
The Mayans, around the 10th century B.C. C., almost simultaneously with the Olmecs, had established themselves in an extensive region south of present-day Mexico, which stretches from the Yucatan peninsula in Central America throughout the region of Chiapas, Tabasco, and the Pacific coast of Guatemala.. The Mayans called the cacao tree ka'kaw: a phrase related to the fire (kakh) hidden in its almonds, and Chocolate was called Chocolhaa or water (haa) bitter (chocol). Cocoa symbolizes physical vigor and longevity for the Mayans. The Nahuatl word cacahuaxochitl refers to the flower (xochitl) of the cacao tree.
The Mayans created a bitter concoction the Chocolha made from cacao seeds that was consumed exclusively by kings and nobles and also used to give solemnity to certain sacred rituals. In their books, the Mayans describe various ways of making and perfuming the drink: more liquid or thicker, with more or less foam, with additions such as honey, called by them hikoth, corn or Ixim, hot chili, etc.
Chocolate was used for therapeutic purposes. Mayan physicians prescribed the consumption of cacao both as a stimulant and for its calming effects. The warriors consumed it as a restorative drink, and the cocoa butter was used as an ointment to heal wounds. It was also used as currency.
Later, the Mayans take it north to the lands occupied by the Toltecs, the people who preceded the Aztecs in Mesoamerican history.
Aztec rule meant, therefore, the submission of the Toltecs, the Olmecs and all the peoples that made up the immense empire of worshipers of the Sun and the Feathered Serpent, or Quetzalcóatl, Kukulkan for the Maya, the founding god of the lineage and the pre-Columbian culture. It was precisely Quetzalcóatl who the Aztecs traced back to the first origin of cocoa, a divine gift to alleviate their fatigue and delight rest. The Aztecs also prescribed a cocoa-based potion mixed with the powder of the crushed bones of their ancestors to cure diarrhea.
An Aztec myth says that it was Quetzalcóatl who brought the cacao seeds with him, he gave them to the people so that they could enjoy the delicacy that the children of the sun themselves appreciated.
«It is a fruit, like almonds, that sell ground and stain it as it is treated by currency throughout the earth and with it all the necessary things are bought.»Hernán Cortés a Carlos I de España
Cocoa is a fundamental ingredient for the elaboration of chocolate and before the conquest it was only known in the Mexican territory, that is, it is a pre-Hispanic product. Cultures like the Olmecs, Mayans and Aztecs used it. This was consumed in the central and southern parts of the Mexican Republic.
At first it was consumed only by Priests and was used in special rites. It was prepared in the form of a drink, it had to be soft and foamy, red, red and pure, being prepared without much mass, some spices were added such as vanilla, chile de árbol and a little honey to sweeten it.
However, the cocoa drink that Cortés had taken from gold cups during the banquets organized in his honor by Moctezuma II was very different from what we are used to today.
The xocolatl, which was what it was called, was a bitter water. The Aztecs mixed chile with roasted and ground cacao nibs, adding cornmeal as a basic emulsifier to absorb the cacao butter. The foam was one of the most important and delicious parts of the drink. The Mayans made the drink even foamier by pouring it from a raised container into another that was on the ground. Later, the Aztecs invented a kind of mill to cause the appearance of foam.
Cocoa beans were first exported to Europe thanks to Hernán Cortés in 1528, although the first commercial shipment of cocoa arrived in Spain in 1585.
The Legend
According to Mayan mythology, Kukulkan gave cacao to the Maya after the creation of humanity, made from corn (Ixim) by the goddess Xmucané (Bogin 1997, Coe 1996, Montejo 1999, Tedlock 1985). The Maya celebrated an annual festival in April to honor the god of cacao, Ek Chuah, an event that included sacrifices of dogs and other animals marked with chocolate paint; cocoa offerings; feathers, incense and gift exchanges.
The Aztecs adapted the same legend like this: The god Quetzalcóatl (represented by mortals as 'the feathered serpent') came down from the heavens to transmit wisdom to men and brought them a gift: the plant of the cocoa. Apparently, the other gods did not forgive him for revealing a divine food and took revenge by banishing him: he was expelled from his lands by the god Txktlpohk. Another version tells that Quetzalcóatl was a kind god who was faced with Tezcatlipoca, the cruel god; he was stronger than him and sentenced him to exile. Be that as it may, the truth is that before leaving he promised to return to where the sun rises in the year ce-acatl , according to the Aztec calendar, which was later associated with the arrival of Hernán Cuts.
The rites
Beyond legends, cocoa had an essential function in religious rites: the Mayans already believed that the drink obtained by roasting and crushing the fruits would feed them after death. Religious rituals were celebrated in different phases of cocoa cultivation. A sowing festival was held in honor of their gods where they sacrificed a dog with a cocoa-colored spot painted on its skin. Another customary practice required planters to remain celibate for thirteen nights. When they reached the fourteenth, they could lie down with their wives and then proceed to plant the cacao. Another ceremony consisted of placing the seeds in small bowls before carrying out secret rituals in the presence of an idol. Blood was then drawn from different parts of the body of a human victim to anoint the idol. Another practice was to irrigate the land that had to be sown with the blood of the sacrifice of some birds; etc
Cocoa was used on many occasions to carry out rituals such as marriages and baptisms. Something similar to what is currently conceptualized in the social phenomenon known as baptism, was carried out as an initiation rite in the Mayan culture, in such a way that the priest inclined the feet, hands and face of the infants into a container with water of cocoa.
As for the Aztecs, they knew that a cup of xocolatl eliminated fatigue and stimulated psychic and mental abilities. For the Aztecs, the xocolatl was a source of spiritual wisdom, bodily energy and sexual potency. It was highly prized as an aphrodisiac product and was one of the favorite drinks in wedding ceremonies. It was a drink reserved for the elite and was also called liquid gold, since cocoa beans were used as currency. Thus, with four grains one could buy a rabbit; with ten the company of a lady, and with a hundred a slave. The Aztecs decorated their faces with chocolate in their religious ceremonies.
Seeing that cocoa beans were used as currency and that the Aztecs attributed restorative and aphrodisiac virtues to the cocoa drink, Hernán Cortés decided to exploit it commercially by creating plantations in Mexico. Later the Spanish continued to develop crops in Venezuela, Trinidad and Haiti, and even on an island in West Africa. From that island, cocoa cultivation spread to Ghana in 1879.
Nutrition and health benefits
Cocoa beans contain:
- 54% cocoa butter
- 11.5% protein
- 9% cellulose
- 7.5% starch and pentosans
- 6% tannins
- 5% water
- 2.6% trace elements and salts
- 2% organic acids and essences
- 1.2% teobromine
- 1% sugars
- 0.2% caffeine
Cocoa also contains many important substances (an estimated 300) such as anandamide, arginine, dopamine (neurotransmitter), epicatechin (antioxidant), histamine, magnesium, serotonin (neurotransmitter), tryptophan (essential to trigger the release of neurotransmitter serotonin), phenylethylamine (FEA), polyphenols (antioxidants), tyramine, salsolinol, and flavonoids. Its stimulating effect is due to theobromine, which produces an increase in the level of serotonin and dopamine. Cocoa-based products that contain sugar they can further intensify the stimulating effect through further increasing the level of serotonin and dopamine. The concentration of phenylethylamine does not stimulate because it is rapidly eliminated by the body. Also the dose of dopamine contained is too low to cause direct stimulant effects. It should be noted that theobromine can be toxic to dogs and cats.
The discovery of epicatechin (polyphenol) in cocoa caused a sensation due to its beneficial properties for health. According to Professor Norman Hollenberg of Harvard Medical School who conducted a study on it, epicatechin could reduce the risk of the four most common diseases in Western countries (stroke, heart attack, cancer, and diabetes) to less than 10% He has investigated the effects of epicatechin in older people from different cultures, including hundreds of Gunas, over the past 15 years. Hollenberg notes that his interest was piqued by the Kuna who do not suffer from high blood pressure.The Guna Yala autonomous indigenous comarca (formerly & # 34; San Blas & # 34;) is located on the eastern coast of the Panamanian Caribbean. Hollenberg compared the causes of death on the death certificates of Kuna who consume a lot of cocoa all their lives with those of other Panamanians over a four-year period (2000-2004). In the scientific community there are divergent opinions on the subject. Although the correlation between illness or good health and the consumption of cocoa rich in flavonols is statistically evident, it must be critically analyzed and other life factors considered in the groups studied. Ongoing research may draw definitive conclusions on the subject.
Properties
The decoction of the seeds and leaves is used to treat asthma, weakness, diarrhea, fractures, infants, lack of appetite, malaria, parasitism, pneumonia, cough, colic, and poisoning.
The seed oil is used to treat wounds, rashes, burns, chapped lips, skin conditions, toothaches, fatigue, malaria, and rheumatism. The young leaves are used to disinfect wounds.[citation needed] On the other hand, it can cause migraines and gastrointestinal discomfort.
Removing the cocoa shell
For the production of chocolate of any kind, it is necessary to remove the shell from it to later manufacture the chocolate.
Something that is recommended is to roast the cocoa and immediately pass it through saturated steam so that a thermal shock is obtained and it can be easily detached.
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