Cocoa nut

Cocoa tree with fruits

As cocoa mothers trees are called, the cocoa trees give the shadow that they need for the increase.

description

In order to thrive profitably, cocoa trees need not only sufficiently high temperatures and sufficient rainfall, but also a lot of shade, as the plants are sensitive to direct sunlight. For this purpose, the so-called cocoa mothers are used as shade-giving plants by mixed planting. In the case of young cocoa trees, for example, guavas , banana or corn plants are used; in older specimens, larger plants such as mango trees , coconut or oil palms are used. In addition to providing shade, the cocoa mothers also offer protection from wind breakage and reduce the height of the cocoa trees, which makes harvesting the fruit easier. The principle of shading by other plants for the cultivation of cocoa trees was already used by the Maya in pre-Columbian times.

Origin of name

The name cocoa mothers for the shady trees comes from the Spanish colonial days of Central America. When the Spaniards realized why the Maya used the shade plants, they called them Madres de cacao , cocoa mothers .

literature

• Gerhard Eisenbrand, Peter Schreier: RÖMPP Lexicon of Food Chemistry . 2nd Edition. Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-13-179282-2 , p. 581 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
• J. Schormüller: Luxury foods containing alkaloid, spices, table salt . Springer-Verlag, 1970, ISBN 978-3-642-46226-9 , pp. 216 f . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
• Sonja Ott-Dörfer: The Little Book of Chocolate . Verlag Gräfe and Unzer, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-8338-1656-7 , pp. 32 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
• Jutta Gay: Chocolate - a pleasure . Verlag Gräfe and Unzer, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-8338-0241-6 , pp. 14 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Paul Heinz List, Ludwig Hörhammer: Chemicals and Drugs Part C: T-Z . Springer-Verlag, 1979, ISBN 978-3-642-67085-5 , pp. 106 (section: Theobroma ovalifolium ).