Description and Uses
Theobroma cocoa (Cocoa tree) is a
tropical
tree from
Amazone . It is mainly grown for its
nut crops
, which have a
medium shelf life. The crop is harvested by
hand picking. It starts flowering after
4 -
5 years. The yield will be
5 pods/tree, but in its top season there will be a yield of
600 seeds/tree. Other crop types include;
alcohol, medicinal, mulch, nut, oil, ornamental, The
fruit seed/nut is used as
spice . The
seed/nut is used as "
high vitamin-C content, " with
Theobromine (2% -
10%) as its significant
phytochemical. There is
Cocoa butter extracted by
heating from the
tree's
seed/nut yielding
54% -
58% oil. The
tree's wood is called
cocoa wood and has a density of
410 -
430 kg/m³. Regarding firewood production the
tree's growing speed is
slow, it's energetic value is
4100 ckal/kg and the wood's drying speed is
slow. After
50 years the
tree can be totally removed as it reached its commercial and ecological goal.
Theobroma cocoa has a lifespan of
90 years.
Environmental limitations
The tree is
7 meters tall with a crown of
5 meters wide. The
tree prefers a planting distance of
300 cm and a row distance of
300 cm. It is
slow growing and
shade tolerant.
Theobroma cocoa has a
shallow root-system and it has symbiotic associations with the
Glomus hoi and Glomus mosseae fungi
(endo-mycorrhiza). It is
not able to fix nitrogen with
"any bacteria. The name(s) or string of bacteria include(s)
"not applicable ". The
tree's flower-morphology is
hermaphroditic and is pollinated by
Forcipomyia.
Theobroma cocoa is
deciduous in dry season and
not allelopathic and has
no thorns.
Theobroma cocoa thrives in an altitude of
20 to
300 meters above sea-level
(tropical). The minimum temperature is
9°C; optimally between
24 -
28°C. The optimal rainfall is
2500
mm/year. Without irrigation the annual rainfall should be between
1000 -
3000mm (L/m²). The optimal soil-pH is between
5.0 -
7.0 in a soil texture of
loam. To salt it is
intolerant to wind
intolerant and to fire
intolerant.
Pests and Diseases
Theobroma cocoa is susceptible to the following pests:
Distantiella theobroma
, Earias biplaga
, Helopeltis antonii
, Helopeltis sumatranus
. And it's susceptible to the following diseases:
Black mould ,
Boxwood blight ,
Indian paint fungus .
Seed Propagation
Seeds are
recalcitrant and can be stored for
1 months. There are approximative
200
seeds/kg. The seeds can be propagated as followed:
- (1) Store harvested seeds in water or in the fruit at room temperature
- (3) Remove the seeds from cold to a permanent warm temperature.
- (3) Seeds germinate above ground (epigeous)
