Archaeologists have shed light on the origins of chocolate by tracing the spread of the cacao tree. A new study published in Scientific Reports found that the cacao tree, which grows cocoa beans, ...

This year as Valentine’s Day approaches consider, for just one moment, where that scrumptious chocolate came from, and you might be surprised to know that it is a gift from the chocolate tree. The ...

WASHINGTON — People have been enjoying chocolate far longer than previously known, according to research published on Monday detailing the domestication and use of cacao beginning 5,300 years ago at ...

In ancient Maya civilization, cacao wasn’t just for the elites. Traces of the sacred plant show up in ceramics from all types of neighborhoods and dwellings in and around a former Maya city, ...

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It’s a wonder we have chocolate at all. Talk about persnickety, difficult flowers. Arguably some of the most important seeds on the planet — they give us candy bars and hot cocoa, after all — come ...

“The seven-year-old cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) that I’m inspecting in this photo is part of the Model Cocoa Orchard established by the University of the West Indies’ Cocoa Research Centre (CRC), ...