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The author of the article does not seem to be able to make a good distinction between cacao and cocoa. For instance, they wrote “cocoa plant” but there’s no suc
by hbarka 3y ago
The author of the article does not seem to be able to make a good distinction between cacao and cocoa. For instance, they wrote “cocoa plant” but there’s no such. There’s a cacao tree and it grows pods (similar in size and shape to a small American football) and these pods contain beans surrounded by pulp. These pods are cut from the cacao tree, the mushy pulp is allowed to ferment and dry over a period of many days, and then the beans from desiccated pod are what ultimately get transformed into powder and then we get what is referred to as the cocoa butter—-from cacao tree to cocoa butter. Finally, it’s a complex process of churning the cocoa butter with the addition of milk and lecithin to get the tasty end product chocolate. In most cases it is mostly milk chocolate and lecithin with a smaller percent of cocoa butter.
The native origins of Cacao trees are in the Amazon region (Brazil, Colombia, Peru) but have a rich history of being transplanted to other regions around the world since colonial times, largely for commercialization. In present day, the top growers of cacao trees are in Africa. 70% of the world’s cocoa come from Cameroon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Ghana.
The CR article fails to make the connection as to where in the lifecycle the heavy metals are introduced.
- ses1984 3y agoI’m pretty sure the heavy metals are introduced from the soils in certain regions, maybe most regions, where cacao is grown. I think you may have applied a little unnecessary pedantry. In many languages there is only one word used to describe the tree and the finished product, and that’s most of the time enough to figure out what people are talking about in context.
- hbarka 3y agoAmong nutritionists and cooks, there is a big distinction. There’s cacao powder and there’s cocoa powder. There’s also a big difference between cocoa versus chocolate, which is really milk chocolate. The real question is which soils contain the pollutants. Is there a statistical significance among cacao trees grown in the Amazon region versus African region, for example, and why.
- ses1984 3y agoOk, but it’s pretty obvious to anyone reading that cocoa plant and cacao plant refer to the same thing. And if the only difference between cocoa powder and cacao powder is the heat used in processing, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t change the heavy metal content, so it’s irrelevant. It’s funny your make such a big deal out of this and then say something like “chocolate is really milk chocolate.”
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- hbarka 3y ago> the only difference between cocoa powder and cacao powder is the heat and this is why it’s important to know your cocoa from cacao Grape vine - grape fruit - wine Cacao tree - cacao bean - cocoa
- dwroberts 3y ago> For instance, they wrote “cocoa plant” but there’s no such They’re both accepted names for the same plant
- crazygringo 3y ago> For instance, they wrote “cocoa plant” but there’s no such. There’s a cacao tree... Cacao and cocoa are more interchangeable than you think: > Theobroma cacao (cacao tree or cocoa tree) [1] The usage shifts according to country and industry. Where you live/work I have no doubt it's called cacao, but in another region it will be the opposite. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobroma_cacao https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobroma_cacao
- hbarka 3y agoGrape vine -> grape fruit -> fermentation+processing = wine Cacao tree -> cacao bean -> fermentation+process = cocoa butter -> +milk+sugar+lecithin = chocolate [0] https://www.webmd.com/diet/difference-between-cocoa-and-cacao https://www.webmd.com/diet/difference-between-cocoa-and-caca...
- crazygringo 3y agohttps://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cocoa+tree%2C+cacao+tree&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cocoa+tree%2C+... You can clearly see both "cocoa tree" and "cacao tree" in common usage. Currently "cacao tree" is a little bit more popular, but in 1980 "cocoa tree" was slightly more dominant, for example. And it's not like there's any necessary reason to distinguish between the two words/spellings.