The oil, fat or cocoa butter (Oleum Theo broma) is separated from the remainder of the bean during the crushing process in a series of horizontal millstones, each succeeding pair be ing closer set than its predecessor, at a tem perature of 200° F. It is soluble in alcohol, melts at 85° and solidifies at At ordinary temperatures it is brittle, with a smooth and even fracture. Its taste and odor are pleasant, and it is utilized for suppositories and in the making of pomatums, soaps, etc. The shells that are removed from the cocoa bean are possessed of the same theobromic principle as the re mainder of the seed, and they, in turn, are pulverized and used as a beverage, similar to tea or coffee. Of the chocolate forms the best known are "simple chocolate,* "iron chocolate,* "vanilla chocolate,* "Iceland moss chocolate,* and others taking their names from certain added ingredients, such as salep, tapioca and sago, with which are also included many medicated forms. As a beverage—by the ad dition of water or milk, or both —and as a flavoring principle, sweetmeat, and, to a con siderable extent, as a food, cocoa or chocolate are well known, their use in the various prod ucts of the confectionery industry being uni versal.
Theobromine, the active principle of cocoa, is an alkaloid, physiologically identical with theine and caffeine, diffenng, however, in im portant particulars from either in its operation. While its utilization therapeutically has been negligible, experiments have indicated its avail ability as a substitute for either of the others mentioned, as likewise of guaranine or cocaine.
While no two varieties of cocoa are the same, a typical analysis of the bean is the fol lowing ( (Dictionary of Applied Chemistry,' article ((Cocoa))) : The world's production of cocoa for the year 1905 was— according to the leading cocoa trade journal, the Gordian, of Hamburg — 143,537 metric tons (metric ton, 2,204.6 pounds) ; in 1915, 283,300 metric tons. The world's con sumption for the same two years 'was, accord ing to the same authority, for 1905, 143,566 metric tons; and for 1915, 294,300 metric tons. The production and consumption for 1915, ac cording to the principal countries, is as fol lows (from computation of the Gordian, re published in United States Corrunerce Reports 26 May 1916) : Of the cocoa tree there are many varieties, many of which are of no commercial value. Of these latter, some are utilized as stocics ou which to graft less hardy, but commercially valuable, varieties. The most generally culti vated are known as Theobroma cocoa (10 furrowed fruit) and Theobroma pentagona, or Alligator cocoa (5-furrowed fruit). Of the
former, the chief classes are the Criollo, Foras tero and Calabacillo, each being subdivided into divers varieties. Of the numerous non-com mercial varieties cultivated— for grafting pur poses— the chief are the Bicolor and Augusti folio, or Monkey cocoa. The tree is produced direct from the seed, or by transplanting and grafting or budding. It begins to bear fruit when three years old, and reaches its full productiveness in its seventh or eighth year, and maintaining it for generations, cases being known of trees retaining their vigor for more than a hundred years. The tree thrives best in a deep alluvial soil covered with a thick layer of humus of decayed vegetation, with a pervious subsoil allowing of about six feet of unobstructed downward root growth. From 150 to 600 trees are planted per acre. Due to the damage caused by tropical storms, other tirnber is usually planted at a distance as a wind-break, and, while the cocoa plant is young, intermediate rows of coffee, or other trees, or leguminous plants— for soil enrichment —are provided as shelter against the heat of the sun. Constant care is required for the success of a cocoa plantation— pruning, spraying and fer tilization with elements furnishing nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in judicious propor tions. On this care depend the healthy tree growth and the development, quality and quan tity of fruit. Diseases of the tree and its fruit are numerous, the most destructive being the so-called "Cocoa Disease,)) producing dead patches on the cortex of the tree, and the °Cocoa Pod Disease,I) a fungus growth of the Phytophthora otnnivora, both of which spread rapidly and destroy whole plantations. In ad dition, the cocoa beetle, a longicorn insect, is a destructive pest, boring into the trunk and hranches of the tree.
Due to the successive rounding off, omitting fractions of tons, the preceding totals are less than the actual .figures as elsewhere reported by the same authonty.
During the fiscal year ending 30 June 1917, the United States imported 338,653,876 pounds of raw cocoa, valued at $39,834,279, and of pre pared cocoa and chocolate (not including con fectionery), 1,829,521 pounds, valued at $553,139. During the same year no raw cocoa was ex ported, but prepared cocoa and chocolate (quan ttty not given) to the value of $.3,451,518 was sold abroad. Consult (Cocoa Production and Trade) (Department of Commerce and Labor. Washington 1912) ; (Cocoa Culture in the West Indies) (published by Agricultural Bureau of German Kali Works, Habana, n.d.) ; Commerce Reports, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Com merce, Washington 1914-17.