All of us know where chocolates come from. But i am sure not many of us know how the plants producing chocolates look like. These plants grow best in the tropical climate, mostly because they came from the South American jungle said to be cultivated by the Mayans and Olmecs about 3,000 years ago. It spread to Central America and around the world and we got our share of plants in our small property in the province. We have both the purple and green variety. However, they are not properly cared for now and diseases already set in as soil borne organisms. They still bear fruits but not able to mature fully well. I very well remember when we were kids that we help our maternal grandmother gather the seeds from the pods to be dried. Sometimes, we even eat the sweet mucilage from the seeds. When the dried pods are ground and molded to round home-made chocolates we call 'tabliya', we even help our grandmother roll it in porcelain cups so they will be finely coated and have smooth, shiny appearance.
During the dry season, a very conspicuous plant which produces young leaves are the cacao trees. They are long, wide and very colorful. When the rains come they are already green ready for manufacturing its own food, and the young fruits are also ready to develop.
young shoots have pinkish colors turning light green during maturation
individual leaves are about 2 ft in length but shorten in mature growths
Flowers arise in all parts of stems and older branches. This type of flowering habit is scientifically called cauliflory.
two flowers in full bloom in above photo
Minute flies called midges, the size of a pin head, are the only insects that can pollinate cacao flowers! Their size distinctly fits the morphology of cacao flowers, and help them bear fruits. Now we know we should be grateful to the flies.
A young pod will mature in about 6 months, these pods are full of seeds eventually made into chocolates.
Flowers and pods have different stages of maturity, so pods ripen at different times, and harvesting is done many times throughout the year.
Now, can you visualize the chocolate?
