The cocoa bean, also known as cocoa (/ ˈkoʊ.koʊ /) or cacao (/ kəˈkaʊ /), [1] is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cacao trees are native to the Amazon rainforest. They are the basis of chocolate and Mesoamerican foods including tejate, an indigenous ...
Cocoa is the dried and partially fermented fatty seed of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made. The word cocoa also is used to refer to cocoa powder, the dry powder made by grinding cocoa seeds and removing the cocoa butter from the dark, bitter cocoa solids. While the bean products are known by different names, typically, cocoa is considered the solids of the cacao seed (bean), cocoa ...
Cocoa seeds have a high fat content and thus provide an energy-rich and delicious food. Cocoa is grown in all humid and tropical countries. Côte d'Ivoire (the world's largest cocoa producer) is the leading cocoa producer in Africa, followed by Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon. Chocolate, cocoa powder, and butterfat are the main products made from cocoa beans which are all consumed by humans ...