Theobroma cacao as culinary, purposes. Some mixtures included maize, chili, vanilla ("Vanilla planifolia"), and honey. Archaeological evidence for use of cacao, while relatively sparse, has come from the recovery of whole cacao beans at Uaxactun, Guatemala and from the preservation of wood fragments of the cacao tree at Belize sites including Cuello and Pulltrouser Swamp. In addition, analysis of residues from ceramic vessels has found traces of theobromine and caffeine in early formative vessels from Puerto Escondido, Honduras (1100–900 BC) and in middle formative vessels from Colha, Belize (600–400 BC) using similar techniques to those used to extract chocolate residues from four
Ceratocystis cacaofunesta Ceratocystis cacaofunesta Ceratocystis cacaofunesta is an ascomycete fungus that causes a wilt disease in cacao trees. It has led to significant economic losses in Latin America. Once considered to be a form of "Ceratocystis fimbriata", the fungus was described as a new species in 2005. The specific epithet "cacaofunesta" means "cacao-killing". Two closely related sublineages exist within this species, one centered in western Ecuador and the other containing isolates from Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica. The disease known as "Ceratocystis wilt of cacao" (or "Mal de machete") is a serious disease of the cocoa tree ("Theobroma cacao") in Latin America.