438 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Theobroma Cacao (Fam. Sterculiaceae), a small tree indigenous to 

 the countries bordering the Gulf of Mexico and now cultivated in 

 many tropical countries. The flowers arise from the older branches 

 or trunk developing into a large, ovoid, fleshy fruit which is 10-fur- 

 rowed longitudinally, yellow or reddish, and contains five rows of 

 seeds, 10 or 12 in each row (Fig. 191). Most of the cacao of the mar- 

 ket is obtained from Ecuador (the Guayaquil variety being especially 

 valued), Curasao, Mexico, Trinidad, and the Philippine Islands. 

 The seeds of the wild plants contain a bitter principle, the quantity 

 of which is found to be greatly reduced in the plants when under cul- 



FIG. 191. Cacao tree (Theobroma Cacao) showing the peculiar habit of the 

 fruits in developing on the main axis as well as on the branches. After 

 Baillon. 



tivation. The bitter principles in the raw product are more or less 

 destroyed by the process of fermentation, to which the seeds are 

 subjected in preparing them for use, which at the same time develops 

 the aroma. 



Description. Irregularly ellipsoidal or ovoid, somewhat flat- 

 tened, from 15 to 30 mm. in length; externally reddish-brown to 

 dark brown, having the hilum at the broader end, the chalaza at 

 the narrow end and which are connected by a raphe which extends 

 along the narrow edge and is somewhat branched at the chalazal 

 end; seed-coat thin and shell-like, readily separable from the coty- 

 ledons; the latter are very fleshy, much folded and connected with 



