History of chocolate in Spain In modern Spain, traces of the history of the drink can be seen in the chocolate companies, the chocolate shops and museums. The [Mesoamerican] origin of the cacao tree (to which Linnaeus gave the scientific name Theobroma cacao in 1753) is disputed by modern botanical historians since there are different hypotheses about the region from which it comes. Thus, some theories point to the Amazon region; however, it is estimated that the plant also grew in the wild in other parts of Americas, including the plains of the Orinoco Basin. It is very likely that the Olmecs knew the cacao
Peter Posnette Peter Posnette Peter Posnette (real name Adrian Frank Posnette) (11 January 1914 – 17 July 2004) was a British plant pathologist. He was born in the South Birmingham area and educated at Cheltenham Grammar School. He entered Christ's College, Cambridge to study zoology but then accepted a Colonial Agricultural Service research studentship in plant genetics. After studying at the Cambridge University School of Agriculture, he moved to the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad to carry out a research project into the pollination of the cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao). In 1937 he moved to the Gold Coast as a