cocoa

Introduction
History of use
Cocoa bean processing
- Harvesting
- Fermentation
- Cleaning, roasting, and grinding
- Conching
- Molding
Cocoa bean products
- Cocoa powders
  - Natural process
  - Dutch process
- Chocolate products
  - Baking chocolate
  - Sweet chocolate
  - Milk chocolate
  - Chocolate-type coatings
- By-products
- Chocolate and cocoa grades
- Care and storage
- Nutritive value

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Chunks of natural cocoa butter on a wooden board, with a bowl of cocoa beans and scattered beans in the background.

A cocoa farmer in a sleeveless shirt holds a machete and displays an open cocoa pod with raw cocoa beans in a plantation in Kumasi, Ghana.

Hands opening a red cocoa pod on the tree to reveal clusters of soft, white seeds inside. Several whole cocoa pods hang from branches in the background.

Know about the MIT Laboratory for Chocolate Science dedicated to the science, history, politics, and economics of chocolate

A white woman bites into a chocolate bar.

Quizzes

Ceviche. Peruvian ceviche (sebiche). Raw seafood dish with lime, cilantro, peppers, plantains. Cuisine, food

A World of Food Quiz

Slices of lemon pie topped with meringue.

Baking and Baked Goods Quiz

Chef tossing vegetables in a frying pan over a burner (skillet, food).

What’s on the Menu? Vocabulary Quiz

Grains and spices in bags, India. (Indian, vendor, market, food)

Ultimate Foodie Quiz

Chocolate Quiz

Related Questions

How are cacao pods opened during the cocoa harvest?
How did C.J. van Houten’s 1828 process change cocoa production?
How did Daniel Peter create milk chocolate in 1876?
How did Fry and Sons create the first eating chocolate?
How did chocolate houses function in European cities?
How did chocolate spread from Spain to other parts of Europe?
How did the Maya use cocoa beans?
How do cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and chocolate liquor differ?
How do forastero, criollo, and trinitario cacao varieties differ?
How does Dutch processing change the colour and flavour of cocoa powder?
How does conching make chocolate smoother?
How does fermentation change the colour and flavour of cocoa beans?
How does grinding cocoa nibs produce chocolate liquor?
How does roasting change cocoa beans?
How is Dutch-process cocoa made?
How is cocoa butter separated from chocolate liquor?
How is cocoa powder made from cocoa beans?
How is cocoa powder produced after cocoa butter is pressed out?
How long are forastero cocoa beans fermented?
How many cacao pods can a mature cacao tree produce each year?
How many cocoa beans are found inside a cacao pod?
What happens during the winnowing of cocoa beans?
What happens to cocoa bean shells after winnowing?
What ingredients are added to chocolate liquor to make sweet chocolate?
What role did Maria Theresa’s marriage to Louis XIV play in the history of chocolate in France?
When did chocolate manufacturing begin in the American colonies?
When did the first chocolate shop open in London?
Which climate conditions does a cacao tree need to grow well?
Which foods and drinks use cocoa powder as a flavouring ingredient?
Which insects pollinate cacao tree flowers?
Why are cacao trees often planted with banana, palm, or rubber trees?
Why are cocoa beans fermented after they are removed from cacao pods?
Why are cocoa beans turned during fermentation?
Why are criollo cacao trees not widely grown commercially?
Why are fermented cocoa beans dried before shipment?
Why can cocoa butter vary depending on where cacao was grown?
Why does cocoa butter melt in the mouth but stay solid at room temperature?
Why is potassium carbonate used in Dutch-process cocoa?
Why is tempering important when making chocolate bars?
Why is trinitario cacao used in high-quality dark chocolate?
Why is white chocolate technically not considered chocolate?
Why was sugar added to cocoa drinks in Europe?

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cocoa

food

Also known as: cocoa powder

Written by

R. Paul Singh

Professor of Food Engineering, University of California, Davis. Coauthor of Introduction to Food Engineering.

R. Paul SinghAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

cocoa, highly concentrated powder made from chocolate liquor—a paste prepared from cocoa beans, the fruit of the cacao—and used in beverages and as a flavouring ingredient. Cocoa is the key ingredient in chocolate and chocolate confections. The cocoa bean is the seed of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), a tropical plant indigenous to the equatorial regions of the Americas. From the processed cocoa bean comes the fluid paste, or liquor, from which cocoa powder and...

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