Cocoa bean

Summary

The cocoa bean, also known as cocoa or cacao, is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, the cacao tree. Due to its high fat content, the bean can be ground into a liquor, from which cocoa butter and cocoa powder are extracted. Cacao trees are native to the Amazon rainforest. They are the basis of chocolate and Mesoamerican foods including tejate, an indigenous Mexican drink.