The cocoa bean or simply cocoa, also called cacao, is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter can be extracted. Cocoa trees are native to the Amazon rainforest. They are the basis of chocolate and Mesoamerican foods including tejate, an indigenous Mexican drink.
Pods at various stages of ripening
Beans in pulp in freshly cut pod
Beans: In pulp, in skin, and naked
Roasted nibs (pieces of kernels) are generally powdered and melted into chocolate liquor, but also inserted into chocolate bars to give additional "crunch".
Theobroma cacao is a small evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. Native to the tropics of the Americas, the largest producer of cocoa beans in 2018 was Ivory Coast, at 2.2 million tons. Its leaves are alternate, entire, unlobed, 10–50 cm (4–20 in) long and 5–10 cm (2–4 in) broad.
Theobroma cacao
Closed and open blossom and fruits on the trunk of Theobroma cacao (ÖBG Bayreuth)
Cacao flowers
Theobroma cacao