cacao - university of hawaii · cacao theobroma cacao “food of the gods” maya called prepared...
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CacaoTheobroma cacao
“Food of the Gods”
Maya called prepared drink from cocoabeans "xocolatl", Aztecs - "cacahuatl";the Mexican Indian word "chocolate"comes from a combination of thewords "choco" ("foam") and "atl"("water") (early chocolate was onlyconsumed in beverage form).
About 1500 BC in lowlands of Gulf of Mexico inAmerica appeared the Olmec civilization. By 1000 BCtheir word "kakawa" was written which is the soundwe use "cacao".
• Understorey 6-8 msome 12-14 m tree ofrainforest, native toAmazonian Peru.
• Leaves simple,12-60cm long by 4-20 cmwide.
• Two distinct branchtypes- verticals calledchupon and lateralscalled fan branchesform the jorquette.
• Flowersproduced on‘pads’ on trunkand mainbranches.
• Fruit is a fleshy‘pod’ 10 -30 cmlong, 2-4 cmlong by 1-2 cmwide seedscovered withwhite mucilage.
• Pollination is out-crossing via midges,less than 1 % set
• 3 main subspecies:– Criollo - yellow to red, deeply furrowed pods, best
flavor, low yield– Forastero - yellow, less furrowed pods, high yield lower
quality,– Trinitario - hybrid of criollo and forastero
Propagation is by seedfrom pods in varietyblock, rootedcuttings,
wedge graft
or grafting withbuds or shortscions.
Patch bud graft
Planting under shade at 4x4m, though Hawaii islikely to be 3 x 2 mwithout shade. Fertilizer,irrigation and windbreakscan substitute for shade.
Pruning is to train tree tosingle chupons, stoppingat second jorquette and toremove diseased limbs.
Harvest is by hand year-round, higher after endof rainy season (Feb toMay in Hawaii).
Pest and Fungal DiseasesWitches Broom
Black Pod
Frosty PodJapanese RoseBeetle is seriousestablishmentproblem in Hawaii
Small Scale Fermentation
Seeds held container over water at 35C3d, then at 45C for 3d, dried at 35C for2 d.
World Production 2004 3.6 M MtAs dried cocoa beans• Cote d’Ivoire 1.3 M Mt• Ghana 0.74 M Mt• Indonesia 0.43 M mtAs ground cocoa beans for cocoa mass, cocoa cake, cocoa butter• Netherland 0.44M Mt• USA 0.41M Mt• Cote d’Ivoire 0.28M MtAs chocolate1/3 made into cocoa liquor (cocoa mass)2/3 made into cocoa butter and cocoaAssume bean is 50% cocoa butter then 2/3 of production used to make
chocolate, 2.4M Mt60% of chocolate sold in Europe and US, 20% of world population
Making ChocolateRoasting - 100 to 135C, until cracking sound stops, or strong
aroma of ‘brownies baking’ up to 60 min,Crushing and winnowing - produces “nibs” and shell (seed coat)Next if producing cocoa and cocoa butter then press nibs to
separateIf producing chocolateGrind nibs to produce cocoa liquor - this is the first stage of
sensory evaluationNext is conching mixing & refining- sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin
added while cocoa liquor is ground even finer. This processmay take several hours to days.
Next is tempering to increase meltingpoint and hardness.Last is pouring the chocolate into molds or simply onto a marble
slab or silicon pad.