The plant that provides the seeds used to make chocolate is the cacao tree.
Cacao, scientifically known as Theobroma cacao, is a small evergreen tree native to the tropical Americas. Its football-shaped fruits, called cacao pods, grow directly from the trunk and larger branches. Each pod contains a cluster of seeds surrounded by sweet, pale pulp.
Chocolate begins with those seeds, not with the fruit’s pulp. After harvesting, the seeds are fermented and dried, then roasted and processed into cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Different proportions of these ingredients produce dark, milk, and white chocolate; white chocolate contains cocoa butter but no cocoa solids.
Cacao has a long history in the Americas. Indigenous peoples, including the Maya and Aztecs, prepared bitter cacao beverages before Europeans encountered the crop. The scientific name Theobroma means “food of the gods,” reflecting cacao’s cultural importance.
Cacao trees grow best in warm, humid conditions near the equator. They are pollinated mainly by tiny insects called midges, and their pods can contain dozens of seeds.