محاضرات الاحياء المجهريه في الاغذيه
د.نداء شهاب حمد
Introduction
Chocolate comes from the seeds of the cacao or chocolate tree, Theobroma cacao. Linnaeus ascribed the genus name meaning "food of the gods" to
the Greek words, these, (god) and brome (food) and the specific epithet from the Native American word for the plant. The chocolate tree is native to Latin America and was transplanted to West Africa in 1824 by the Portuguese. Presently, Cote d lvoire and Ghana produce nearly half of the world s chocolate.
The chocolate tree produces small flowers along its trunk that are pollinated by midges (a type of fly). Each pollinated flower produces a large pod containing 30 to 40 bitter seeds embedded in a sweet, sticky pulp. This sweet pulp was a staple food of the Mayans 2000 years ago. The Mayans and Aztecs also used the seeds to make a chocolate drink. While Columbus brought the chocolate seeds to Europe in 1502, the Spanish in the 17th century added sugar to the bitter beverage to produce the "food of the gods" that Linnaeus and many others have enjoyed.