History and uses of cacao

The cacao tree is thought to have originated in the northern region of South America in an area now covered by parts of Colombia and Ecuador close to the upper waters of the Napo, Putumaya and Caqueta rivers. Chocolate is made from the seeds of the fruit of the Theobroma cacao tree.
When the Americas were first explored by travellers from Europe, cacao trees were found throughout Mesoamerica (as far north as modern Mexico) and northern South America. Human activity is believed to have been involved in the movement of cacao across this range. The large genetic diversity of the plants observed in South America and the smaller amount of diversity seen in the Mesoamerican populations suggests that cacao trees originated in the south and travelled north and not the other way around. This is a phenomenon known as ‘the founder effect’ where the particular genetic characteristics of the subset of trees transplanted to a separate location gives the new population a distinct phenotypic character from the original population.

Pic 1: Theobroma cacao; cut fruit showing five seeds, flower, sectioned flower and one petal. Drawing by Samantha Tsistinas

Eating Cacao without the foil

Cacao fruit has been eaten in South America since prehistory and today can be found in almost every juice and smoothie shop in Brazil. The traditional ways of consuming cacao were to eat the fresh fruit, to ferment the fruit to make an alcoholic drink, or to use the alcoholic drink to make a vinegar.
It was only in Mesoamerica that a history of fermenting, roasting and grinding the cacao seeds (rather than the fruit) to make drinks was found. Today in Panama, the Guna people of San Blas island drink a cacao beverage made with added sugar and water. Sometimes bananas or corn are added to the drink. Elsewhere in Panama, cacao seeds are also mixed with plantain, cornmeal or rice flour to make drinks.

Pic 3: Shop in Trinidad, Bolivia, selling cacao vinegar in the jar on the left

Cacao has been used to treat various ailments from cracked lips and coughs to irritations of the scalp and other sensitive areas of the body. Although, cacao has a very low content of compounds known to soothe the skin (emollients), it does contain a number of compounds that might treat localised inflammation or infection. So far twelve compounds have been identified that act as pain killers (analgesics) and two that can produce a loss of sensation (anaesthetics). In addition, there are 14 compounds that can kill or inhibit the growth of microbes (antiseptics) and another that has antibacterial properties (antibiotics). Further study is needed to better understand how these compounds interact and how traditional processing and medicinal techniques.

Pic 5: The oldest recorded illustration of Theobrama Cacao; Badianus Manuscript pl. 68

Other documented medicinal uses include:
• flowers used to treat a screw worm infection in the eye;
• roasted seeds mixed with roasted gum from Castilla elastica to treat dysentery;
• cacao seeds mixed with other plants to extract large splinters;

Other Uses of Cacao

Cacao seeds have also been used for other purposes. They were sometimes burned as part of funeral rites and puberty rites (Panama). The cacao pod (which contains the seeds and flesh of the fruit) was used as a cup or container and wood from the cacao tree is used for carving and as firewood (across South America).

Pic 7: Stone statue of an Aztec man carrying a cacao pod, Brooklyn Museum, New York