Theobroma cacao or five years old. A mature tree may have 6,000 flowers in a year, yet only about 20 pods. About 1,200 seeds (40 pods) are required to produce 1 kg (2.2 lb) of cocoa paste. Historically, chocolate makers have recognized three main cultivar groups of cacao beans used to make cocoa and chocolate: Forastero, Criollo and Trinitario. The most prized, rare, and expensive is the Criollo group, the cocoa bean used by the Maya. Only 10% of chocolate is made from Criollo, which is arguably less bitter and more aromatic than any other bean. In November 2000, the cacao beans
Arturo Gómez-Pompa y realidades. Bol. Soc. Bot. Mexico. 63: 33-41. Whikus, R., M. de la Cruz, L. Mota-Bravo, A. Gomez-Pompa. 1998. Genetic diversity and relationships of wild cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) in southern Mexico. Theoret. And Appl. Genet. 96: 621-627. Arturo Gómez-Pompa Arturo Gómez-Pompa (born 1934 in Mexico City) is a well-known tropical biologist who is currently a scientific advisor for the Tropical Research Center of the Universidad Veracruzana (CITRO) and a distinguished professor emeritus of botany at the University of California, Riverside. He made various notable contributions to the field of tropical ecology over the years through the creation of databases