Cocoa Tree

The cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) is grown in countries around the Equator, and cocoa beans, which supplies chocolate is made.

It grows between 20 degrees North latitude and 20 degrees South latitude, but sets high standards for temperature , rainfalland soil fertility. Cocoa trees grow poorly in full sun. Therefore cocoa usually grown under shade trees .



Content
[hide] *1 Description  ==Description[ Edit] == A cocoa tree is more than 50 years old, up to 10 meters high and has a moderately thick trunk. The stem branches at 1 metre from the ground in up to 5 wide-set main branches. These main branches branching further. The tree has a dense leaf canopy. The leaves are leathery.
 * 2 History
 * 2.1 Netherlands
 * 3 cocoa-producing countries
 * 4 see also
 * 5 external links

If the tree is about 4 years old, he is going to flourish. The small white or pink flowers are produced directly on the stem and on the thick branches. Once he is will flower, blooms the cacao tree without ceasing almost all year round. The tree bears than also constantly fruits.

InflorescenceDespite the long flowering, the cacao tree but 30 to 40 fruits per year. These fruits resemble elongated melons. They are picked and then broken up. The cocoa beans are in the middle of the stone fruit. Each fruit contains 40-50 ' beans ', each about one gram of roads. An average cocoa tree supplies per year so 1 to 2 pounds of beans.

The cocoa beans are, with the flesh that there is still attached, by fungi and bacteria fermented. This temperature to 50 degrees. This fermentation takes about five days. The germ of the seed is killed and the color of the beans changes from purple to Brown. Lastly, the ferment the taste forerunners for the chocolate flavor formed. The beans are dried in the Sun, or in dry houses. The dried beans are then exported. ==History[ Edit] == The cocoa is native to Central America and the northern part of South America. The Aztecs linked cocoa with Tlaloc, the god of rain and fertility. They drank a cocoa drink, xocoatl, often was brought to taste with vanilla, Chile pepper and allspice.

Cocoa beans served at the Aztecs also as a method of payment. A rabbit could be bought for 10 beans, while men-allegedly-a slave could buy for 100 beans.

<p lang="en" len="605" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Spanish conqueror Fernando Cortez in 1528 as first brought a large amount of cocoa beans to Europe.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In the 17th and 18th centuries is the cocoa planted in Asia, especially in Indonesia and Ceylon, Malaysia. In South America to spread the production in Brazil. Cocoa trees were also planted in Africa, on the Gold Coast (now Ghana). A freed slave brought the beans in 1879 from Fernando Pó a plantation to his homeland.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2009/2010 was 78% of the world production coming from five countries, namely Indonesia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Brazil. One of the most widely usedinsecticides in the cultivation of cocoa in West Africa is lindane (Hexachlorocyclohexane), a toxic organochloorverbinding like DDT. Poster designed by Caspar FlickJ.G. Valenzuela===Netherlands<span class="mw-editsection" len="325" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Netherlands has traditionally played an important role in the cocoa trade. Cocoa trees were planted In Suriname . After the abolition of slavery in 1863 this cocoa plantations were not worthwhile anymore. Amsterdam is still the main international port for cocoa; every year, approximately 500 000 tonnes of cocoa beans here skipped.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In 1828 Casparus van Houten was discovered how the fat off the beans could be removed, with cocoa powder and cocoa butter was formed. This was the basis for the current chocolate. ==Cocoa-producing countries<span class="mw-editsection" len="340" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ Edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" len="1" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==

Global production of cocoa beans<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The production of cocoa beans is strongly dependent on weather conditions and diseases. In crop year 2006/2007, commencing on 1 October and ends on 30 september, the harvest of cocoa beans in West Africa low due to the harmattan and the related drought. An excess of precipitation is also not conducive to growth.

<p lang="en" len="72" style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Worldwide annual production of cocoa beans at about 3.5 million tons.
 * West Africa was in the harvest year 2009/2010 with 68.0% of the total world production the most important producer of cocoa beans. Ivory Coast and Ghana are the two most important West African producers, with a share of about 50% and 25% of the total cocoa production in the region. These two countries are followed byNigeria and Cameroon. Most cocoa farms are family owned and are consequently only between 2 and 10 hectares large. The production is largely destined for export since the domestic demand for cocoa is very low.
 * With approximately 17.5% of the total world production is also Southeast Asia an important player. Indonesia is by far the largest producer with a share of about 80% in the region. Papua New Guinea is number two with less than 10% followed by several smaller producers including Malaysia. In these countries, industrialized production in large companies.
 * Latin America takes care of approximately 14.4% of world production. As in Southeast Asia come here mostly for large-scale plantations. In addition to Ecuador Brazilis a major cocoa producing countries. The Dominican Republic In the Caribbean is the main, others are Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Ordinary cocoa, extracted from the Forastero variety of cacao tree, includes 95% of the world production. Fine cocoa, extracted from the Criollo and Trinitario varieties, is only 5% of the world production.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">There has been criticism in the manner of producing cocoa, specifically the use of (child) slavery on the plantations. In Netherlands is this discussion sparked by the RVU Value Inspectorate television program.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The processing of cocoa beans is done mostly in the countries where many cocoa is consumed. Netherlands is the world's largest processor of cocoa beans, particularly around Amsterdam and Zaandam is much cocoa processed. In 2009/2010 in Netherlands was 470,000 tonnes of cocoa processed, this is equivalent to a world market share of almost 13%. Ivory Coast has also invested heavily in additional capacity in recent years and reached in the same year a production of 400,000 tonnes and this came for theUnited States (382,000 tons) and Germany (361.000 tonnes) from<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1" len="161" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[1] .