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CACAO

CACAO

CAS NO.: 84649-99-0
EC/LIST NO.: 283-480-6

Essentially chocolate in its raw, purest form, cacao is derived from the seeds (also known as cacao beans) that come from the pods of the Theobroma cacao fruit tree. 
The cacao tree is primarily grown and harvested in Central and South American countries, like Indonesia, Nigeria, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Malaysia and the Ivory Coast. 
Cacao then harvested and processed into various forms including cacao nibs, cacao powder, cacao butter and paste, which represent the products you typically can find in the stores. 
All forms of cacao, and raw cacao, are called for in a wide variety of cacao recipes.  

 
The cacao tree is native to tropical regions in Central and South America, and its fruit was consumed by pre-Columbian cultures like the Mayans over 4,000 years ago. "Cacao" originates from the Olmec word "ka-ka-w," and Aztec ruler Moctezuma II famously enjoyed drinking a frothy, bitter beverage made from ground cacao seeds called xocōlātl. 
Today, 70% of cacao is grown in West Africa. 
Cacao plants have two edible parts: the seeds (also called beans) and the fruit. 
If you've ever eaten chocolate, you've eaten cacao seeds. 
They're fermented, ground into a paste, sweetened, and sometimes flavored to create everything from Hershey's chocolate bars to Guittard's gourmet chocolate wafers. 
Cacao fruit isn't as ubiquitous in the U.S., but is blended into beverages in Ecuador, and slowly making its way stateside as well.

Theobroma cacao, also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small (4–8 m (13–26 ft) tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae.
Cacao seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate.
The largest producer of cocoa beans in 2018 was Ivory Coast, with 37% of the world total.


Cacao beans can be sourced from a variety of countries throughout the world. 
From Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, to Tanzania, and Madagascar, each cocoa growing region, farm, and even harvest season has a direct impact on the cacao bean and its flavor profile. 
These beans are then made into craft chocolate.

Apart from being used to make chocolate, cacao nibs (the inside of the bean) can be included in chocolate confections to create a delightful crunchy texture. 
They provide a nut-like consistency, without introducing allergens. 
Our Chocolate Caramel Five Star bar® utilizes this unique ingredient.
Cacao nibs are extremely versatile and have been used to make cacao vodka, cold brew coffee, and even Vermont craft beer.
Looking for some delicious recipes using cacao? Try our warming butternut squash soup, or this simple, tasty homemade crème de cacao.

Cacao comes from the edible seed of the cacao tree, which is native to tropical regions such as Central and South America. 
After cacao beans are harvested from the tree, they are pulled from the shells and left in the sun to naturally ferment and dry.

Cacao nibs are crushed raw cacao seeds that have the same texture as coffee beans.
Grinding the dried cacao seeds creates a cacao powder. 
Both cacao nibs and powder have the fruity taste of unsweetened dark chocolate with a hint of bitterness. 
Some recommend toasting the raw nibs in a dry skillet over medium heat to bring out the nutty flavor.
Cacao is cocoa in its raw, less-processed form. Cacao grows from trees called Theobroma cacao. 
Cacao trees are native to South America, West Africa, and some countries in Asia. 
More than half the world’s cacao comes from countries in West Africa, including Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

Cacao pods are harvested from the trees and are turned into cocoa — then eventually chocolate — through a multi-step process.

cacao, (Theobroma cacao), also called cocoa, tropical evergreen tree (family Malvaceae) grown for its edible seeds, whose scientific name means “food of the gods” in Greek. 
Native to lowland rainforests of the Amazon and Orinoco river basins, cacao is grown commercially in the New World tropics as well as western Africa and tropical Asia.

Cacao grows in the forest understory to a height of 6–12 metres (20–40 feet), usually remaining at the lower end of this range. 
Cacao oblong leathery leaves measure up to 30 cm (12 inches) in length, and are periodically shed and replaced by new leaves that are strikingly red when young. 
Cacao flowers are either foul-smelling or odourless; they can be present at all times but appear in abundance twice a year. 
These flowers grow in clusters directly from the trunk and limbs and are about 1 cm (0.4 inch) in height and breadth. 
They can be white, rosy, pink, yellow, or bright red, depending on the variety, and are pollinated by tiny flies called midges in many areas.


Theobroma cacao, or cacao, is the name of a tropical tree and the fruit it produces. 
The cacao tree’s large seed pods contain dozens of seeds called cacao beans, the source of the world’s chocolate products. 
Farmers clean and ferment the seeds, then send them along to manufacturers that process the raw beans into powders, bars, and nibs.

Minimally-processed raw cacao is a superfood that’s high in antioxidants, rich in fiber, and contains nutrients like iron, potassium, and magnesium. 
You can press processed cacao beans into a powder and use it to make hot cocoa, garnish breakfast foods and desserts, or dry rub for pork and beef.

Cocoa is made from the same raw cacao powder but is roasted at high temperatures. 
This destroys all the good stuff, greatly reducing the nutritional content. 
Most chocolate manufacturers use the processed version of cocoa for taste reasons. 
Lucky organic cacao powder is readily available to purchase, so you can make your own healthy chocolate recipes.

Cacao is the purest form of chocolate you can consume. 
The term cacao is typically used to identify beans from the Theobroma cacao tree; a plant that produces large pod-like fruits, which contain seeds in white a sticky, sweet, and tart pulp.
When ripe, cacao pods are harvested and cracked open to remove the seeds, known as cacao beans. 
Once harvested, the cacao beans are then transferred to heaps or bins, often covered with banana leaves, and left to ferment for several days. 
This process of fermentation helps to destroy the coat of the seed, kill the germ, and begin to develop a sweeter taste.  

When the beans are well fermented, they are then dried in the sun for several days before being sorted for production. 
Any flat, germinated, mouldy, or broken beans are sorted and removed, and all of the good beans are sorted into sacks for further processing. 
The sorted cacao beans are typically roasted unless a raw product is required, then crushed to create cacao nibs ready to make chocolate products.  

Cacao refers to any of the food products derived solely from the cacao bean. 
These products include cacao nibs, cacao butter, cacao mass or paste, and cacao powder. 
At Natierra, our cacao powder is made by cold-pressing unroasted cacao beans; this process retains more nutrients and removes most of the fat (cacao butter). 
For example, one serving (3 tablespoons) of our cacao nibs contains a whopping 31% of your daily value of dietary fiber and 4 grams of plant-based protein.

Cocoa looks the same, however there is a big difference. 
Cocoa powder is cacao that has been roasted at high temperatures. 
By roasting the cacao, the molecular structure of the cacao bean changes, lowering its overall nutritional value and reducing its benefits.

Cacao is chocolate at its most pure – straight out the pod, right from the bean, unroasted and relatively unprocessed. 
Cacao products come in many forms, from powders to nibs/chips and pastes, and all are free from any added sugar or milk.

Because of its raw quality, cacao has more of a bitter taste than processed cocoa or chocolate, and has been said to contain a whole lot more nutritional value than the sweeter alternatives.

Here is where things can get a little bit confusing: cocoa comes from cacao. 
At Cacao most basic, cocoa is simply cacao after it’s been roasted. 
Yes, all the forms of processed cocoa or chocolate that we know and love are simply made by roasting cacao beans at very high temperatures.

But Cacao not just the cooking process that differentiates the two. Most store-bought cocoa is also made with added sugar and milk to make it sweeter. 
Dutch-processed cocoa or dark cocoa is even processed with an alkaline solution to make it less acidic and far richer in its flavours.

Cacao is the fruit from the cacao tree. 
The fruit is a pod that is filled with seeds surrounded by a white colored pulp


In some areas of Brazil they save the white pulp and make a smoothie out of it called suco de cacao. 
The seeds in the cacao pods are referred to as cocoa beans. 
The seeds are dried and ground into a powder called cocoa powder.

Cacao refers to a tropical plant that is native to South America: the Theobroma cacao tree.

Cacao also refers to the beans of this tree and a specific type of product made from the beans. 

The beans of the cacao plant are prized the world over for their distinctive flavor and aroma.
They are the main ingredient of chocolate and are also used to make cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and other products.

The cacao bean is actually the source of both cacao and cocoa powders and is what any type of chocolate is originally made from. 
However, the studies that boast of chocolate’s amazing health benefits are not referring to your average store-bought chocolate bar. 
The "chocolate" that they’re referring to is in fact cacao. 
Cacao is made by cold-pressing cacao beans that have been gently heated at low temperatures to remove bacteria and bring out the chocolatey flavour. 
This process keeps the living enzymes in the cacao and removes the fat (cacao butter). 
So, in a nutshell, cacao refers to the purest and most natural form of chocolate that is unprocessed and additive free. 

Although it may look the same as cacao, cocoa is made by roasting cacao beans at high temperatures and is usually processed using an alkalised solution that makes it less acidic and richer in taste. 
Roasting at high temperatures changes the molecular structure of the cacao bean, reducing the enzyme content and lowering the overall nutritional value. 
Many cocoa powders also contain additives like sugar. 

Cacao (pronounced ka-kow) has been revered for centuries, however only in recent years has it really swept the chocolate world. 
With numerous health benefits, it is often referred to as the ‘chocolate superfood’. 
These benefits are sadly not found in your average chocolate bar, but come from cacao.

All chocolate that we know and love comes from the same dried beans of the cacao pod (pictured). 
The key difference is that cacao is made from cold-pressing unroasted cacao beans, keeping most of the nutritional value intact. 
Cocoa is cacao powder that has been roasted at high temperatures and processed with an alkaline solution. 
This process results in a darker and richer flavour, but also alters the structure of naturally occurring enzymes, reducing the overall nutritional value.

Cacao is chocolate in its purest form. 
There are around 300% more antioxidants in cacao powder than in regular cocoa. 
Cacao also rich in sulphur, magnesium, iron and flavonoids – which can help to lower blood pressure and increase ‘good’ cholesterol.

Cacao comes in three main forms: powder, beans and nibs. 
Cacao powder can be used in place of cocoa powder. 
Cacao has a richer, more chocolatey flavour. 
Cacao beans can be peeled and eaten as a snack, or crushed to add to nut mixes. 
You can also lightly toast them and add to your coffee grinder with your coffee beans. 
Cacao nibs are skinless beans that have been roughly crushed into small nibs. 
The flavour is a rich, buttery chocolate and tastes great added to granola, crumble toppings and in baking.

Cacao can refer to the various food products which are made from the pods, including Cacao nibs, butter, paste or powder. 
The processing of the Cacao bean, will turn it into either Cacao or Cocoa. 
Raw Cacao is made by cold pressing, the un-roasted cacao bean, which removes the cacao butter..
Where as Cocoa is formed from a different process, which involves roasting the pods at high temperatures, changing the molecular structure and therefore, altering the nutritional value of the bean and reducing the antioxidant and flavonol content. 
This processing was originally developed to reduce the bitterness of the cacao, ensuring a softer, less bitter flavour, but unfortunately it takes away many health benefits at the same time. 
Less processing and heating will result in higher antioxidant content and greater overall nutritional value.

Cacao is actually raw chocolate which is less processed than chocolate bars. 
Cacao is obtained from the Theobroma cacao tree, a tropical native South American which produces large, pod-like fruits, each containing 20–60 beans surrounded by a sticky, sweet-tart white pulp. 
Cacao is a high source of antioxidants and provides a high amount of magnesium. 
Products like cacao nibs, cacao butter, cacao mass, and cacao powder are all made from raw Cacao.

Cocoa refers to highly processed cacao. 
The cocoa beans are fermented and then roasted, decreasing their antioxidant capacity and reducing most of their nutritious capacity.

Although they cacao and cocoa are very similar (they look almost identical, are practically spelled the same, and both both come from the Theobroma cacao tree) they are not be confused with one another.

Think of cacao as the healthier relative of cocoa: raw cacao is made by cold-pressing unroasted cocoa beans, which preserves the beans nutritional content; cocoa is heavily processed, roasted at high temperatures and has a lot of sugar added to it, which almost zaps away the health benefits.

Cacao, a product of the tropical cacao fruit, is a superfood that has gained a lot of traction in the health and nutrition world. 
However, cacao is not a new discovery; it has a rich world history. Cacao was a culinary treasure to Mesoamericans for thousands of years and touted as the “Food of the Gods” for its rich nutrition profile and chocolate flavor. 
Cacao continues to be globally celebrated as a popular health food today.

If you are unfamiliar with cacao, and want to know why it is a nutritional powerhouse, continue reading. 
I have put together everything you may ever need to know about cacao 


Leaves are alternate, entire, unlobed, 10–40 cm (4–16 in) long and 5–20 cm (2–8 in) broad.

The flowers are produced in clusters directly on the trunk and older branches; this is known as cauliflory. 
The flowers are small, 1–2 cm (3⁄8–13⁄16 in) diameter, with pink calyx. 
The floral formula, used to represent the structure of a flower using numbers, is K5 C5 A(5°+52) G(5).
While many of the world's flowers are pollinated by bees (Hymenoptera) or butterflies/moths (Lepidoptera), cacao flowers are pollinated by tiny flies, Forcipomyia midges in the subfamily Forcipomyiinae.
Using the natural pollinator Forcipomyia midges for Theobroma cacao was shown to have more fruit production than using artificial pollinators.
The fruit, called a cacao pod, is ovoid, 15–30 cm (6–12 in) long and 8–10 cm (3–4 in) wide, ripening yellow to orange, and weighs about 500 g (1 lb) when ripe. 
The pod contains 20 to 60 seeds, usually called "beans", embedded in a white pulp. 
The seeds are the main ingredient of chocolate, while the pulp is used in some countries to prepare refreshing juice, smoothies, jelly, and cream. 
Usually discarded until practices changed in the 21st century, the fermented pulp may be distilled into an alcoholic beverage.
Each seed contains a significant amount of fat (40–50%) as cocoa butter. 
The fruit's active constituent is the stimulant theobromine, a compound similar to caffeine.

Cacao (Theobroma cacao) belongs to the genus Theobroma classified under the subfamily Byttnerioideae of the mallow family Malvaceae.
Cacao is one of 17 species of Theobroma. 

In 2008, researchers proposed a new classification based upon morphological, geographic, and genomic criteria: 10 groups have been named according to their geographic origin or the traditional cultivar name. 
These groups are: Amelonado, Criollo, Nacional, Contamana, Curaray, Cacao guiana, Iquitos, Marañon, Nanay, and Purús.

The generic name is derived from the Greek for "food of the gods"; from θεός (theos), meaning 'god', and βρῶμα (broma), meaning 'food'. 
The specific name cacao is the Hispanization of the name of the plant in indigenous Mesoamerican languages. 
The cacao was known as kakaw in Tzeltal, Kʼicheʼ and Classic Maya; kagaw in Sayula Popoluca; and cacahuatl in Nahuatl as "bean of the cocoa-tree"

IUPAC NAME:

Cocoa
 
Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) extract, kernel, partially fat reduced
    
Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) extract, kernel, partially fat reduced
 
Cocoa ext.
    
COCOA EXTRACT
     
Cocoa, ext.
      
cocoa, ext.

SYNONYMS:

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