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Cacao

Name

Cacao

Latin

Theobroma Cacao

Secret Meaning

Yum Yum! (non-traditional)

Alternative Names:

Facts & Folkore:

Native to the deep tropical regions of Central and South America, its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make cocoa mass, cocoa powder, and chocolate while the flowers grow directly from the trunk of the tree. These flowers are incredibly hard to pollinate and only tiny chocolate midges are able to crawl into the flower to assist the process. The generic name Theobroma is derived from the Greek for "food of the gods." There are over 300 naturally-occurring chemicals in chocolate, some of which induce a blissful state, particularly phenylethlyamine, which causes alertness and a degree of excitement, quickens the pulse rate, and gives a feeling of happiness or similar feelings of being in love. Even among the fats in chocolate is one called anadamide, named after the Sanskrit word for “bliss”.

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