The cacao fruit or pod is melon - shaped (12 – 30 cm long and 8 – 12 cm wide) with an average weight of 400 – 600 g.
The pod shaped fruit is botanically classified as baccate-like (berry-like) and each pod produces approximately 35-50 seeds surrounded by a sweet pulp. Cocoa shells, which is enclosed the cocoa seeds is endocarp and must be removed after roasting process to obtain the cocoa nibs.
The seeds have a reddish brown external color and a dark brown interior owing to their rich polyphenolic content. Cocoa seeds consist of two large storage cotyledons and an embryo axis enclosed by a hardened but flexible seed shell.
The storage components in the cotyledons comprise 50 % fat, 15 % phenolics, 12 % protein, 5 % starch and 2 % sucrose on a dry weight base.
The pulp is aromatic and mucilaginous, composed of spongy parenchymatous cells that contain a sap rich in carbohydrates.
Cocoa beans: Pod and seed
The word chocolate is derived from the Aztecs names for the tree, and for the drink they prepared from the beans. These words live on in Mexican today as ‘choclatl’ for the drink and ‘cacauatl’ for the tree. Chocolate was first cultivated as a crop, by ancient Mesoamerican peoples. They used cacao beans to create a frothy chocolate drink flavored with spices.
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