Patrick Edward McGovern ca. 7000-6600 B.C. It was a mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey, and grape and/or hawthorn ("Crataegus pinnatifida" and "C. cuneata") fruit. The laboratory and collaborators began studying some of the most ancient chocolate from ancient Mesoamerica (ca. 1400-1100 B.C.) in 2004 Jars from Puerto Escondido in Honduras were in the shape of the cacao ("Theobroma cacao") pod or fruit, as if to advertise the contents as being a chocolate beverage. The fruit's sweet pulp contains about 15% sugar, which naturally ferments to a 5 to 7% alcoholic beverage. This beverage might have led to the domestication of the tree.
Cacao swollen-shoot virus the whole plantation. Since the virus is transmitted readily through seed, only seed that is known to be free of the virus should be planted. "Planococcus njalensis" population density is closely correlated with density of ants in the genus "Crematogaster", which build protective carton tents over the mealy bug colonies. "Crematogaster" populations however are negatively correlated with populations of ants of the genus "Oecophylla". This could be a natural biological control that is worth considering if agents to control the "Crematogaster" ants are developed, since they should not target "Oecophylla" ants as well. Cacao swollen shoot virus has had a