The Cacao or "Chocolate" Tree
by Swapna Dutta
Did you know that the scientific name for chocolate is "Theobroma Cacao”? The main ingredient used to make chocolate is the cocoa bean which comes from the cacao tree. Cacao trees grow close to the equator. They are found in South and Central America, Africa, and parts of Asia where it is warm and wet. The tree needs regular rainfall and fertile, well-irrigated soil.
The cacao tree has large glossy leaves. They are red when young and turn green as they grow. The tree sprouts thousands of tiny flowers, pink or white in color, that cluster together on the trunk and branches. The trees are delicate and need to be protected from the wind. They require a fair amount of shade. The cacao trees produce flowers and fruits all year long. They start producing fruit when they are between 4 and 5 years old. The cacao tree fruit is a huge berry called cacao pod. They are usually egg- or melon-shaped and are 5 to 12 inches long and 3 to 5 inches wide. Each cacao pod contains 30 to 40 seeds. The beans grow on the inside of the cacao pods. It takes 20 to 25 pods to get 2 pounds of cocoa!
The cacao pod is harvested twice a year. The pods are sliced open with a long, heavy knife called a machete, and the beans scooped out and left to dry in the sun. The beans are covered by a white coating. The pods can be many colors, depending on the variety of the bean. They can be bright yellow, orange, or various shades of green and red. 6 But chocolate cannot be made directly from the cocoa beans because they taste very bitter. In fact the word "chocolate" comes from the ancient Aztec’s word xocolatl, which means "bitter water." After the beans are taken out of their pods, they are laid out on screen racks in the sun and covered with banana leaves. They are left like this for a few days to make them soft and pulpy. This process reduces their bitterness and also removes the white coating. It does something else that is very important. It helps develop the typical aroma experienced when a package of chocolate is first opened. The beans are dried and cleaned. After that they are ready to be graded (chosen by size and quality), packed, and shipped for processing into chocolate products.
Though cacao trees only grow around the equator, the beans are shipped to places all over the world. Then, in chocolate factories, they are roasted and ground into a thick syrup which is still quite bitter. It has to be processed and made fit to eat. After it is mixed with sugar and many other tasty things, it is poured into molds. Just before the mixture is ready to eat, cold air is blown over it to make it quite dry. The chocolate bars are then taken out of the molds and are ready to place in wrappers or simply eat. The syrup is also used in many delicious drinks, yummy candies, and tasty desserts.
Chocolate has been a well-loved snack all around the world for the last two hundred years. Soldiers have carried familiar brown chocolate bars onto the battlefield for a quick energy snack while fighting. Cocoa beans have even been traded for wanted items almost like money. The “change” would be used to make chocolate drinks. Cocoa beans from the cacao tree are a pretty popular fruit!
As it is used in paragraph 6, what is the best meaning for aroma?