BOTANICAL RECORD
Theobroma cacao L.
Cacao tree · Cocoa · Malvaceae
Overview
About the illustration
Generated species illustration: leaves, flowers on old wood, pods and seeds surrounded by pulp. No cultivar or observed growth stage at Odo is assigned.
Original ↗- Growth form
- Tree
- At Odo Valley
- Present at Odo Valley
- In the library
- Local plantings
- Botanical origin in Ghana
- Introduced to Ghana
- Location
- Odo Valley · Busua · Ghana
- Known date or period
- Plantings around 2021 and 2024
Field note
Approximately 600 cacao trees on Odo Valley’s main site and surrounding hills. Absent when JB arrived; about fifty planted around 2021, followed by more than 600 around 2024. Slow growth reported. Current count is an estimate, not a census; cultivar unspecified.
Record sources 7
Sources and origins
Theobroma cacao — Agroforestree Database 4.0
- Author or institution
- Orwa C, Mutua A, Kindt R, Jamnadass R, Anthony S
- Publication year
- 2009
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Documentary reference
- Page, table or passage
- Description, distribution and plant health
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-10
Older source using Sterculiaceae; this record uses Malvaceae. No yield or cultivation regime is attributed to the Odo trees.
Cacao at Odo Valley — plantings and uses
- Author or institution
- JB
- Publication year
- 2026
- Type
- Direct account
- Geographic origin
- Odo Valley · Busua · Ghana
- Provenance and context
- JB reports no cacao initially, two planting waves, a current estimate of approximately 600 trees and slow growth on the hills. He makes chocolate, chocolate mousse and brownies.
Approximate years inferred from “five years ago” and “two years ago” in the September 2026 account. Planting quantities are not an inventory of surviving trees. Exact recipes, yields and the origin of each bean batch are unrecorded.
Processing Cocoa
- Author or institution
- International Cocoa Organization
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Documentary reference
- Page, table or passage
- From fermentation to chocolate
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-10
General process description, without validation of Odo batches or their food-safety treatment.
Cocoa (Chocolate Bean) Growing in the Florida Home Landscape
- Author or institution
- Jonathan H. Crane, Carlos F. Balerdi, Eugene A. Joyner
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Documentary reference
- Page, table or passage
- Climate, light, water and harvest
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-10
General guidance; Florida schedules and fertilizer rates are not transferred to Ghana.
Easy Chocolate Mousse With Whipped Cream and Sea Salt
- Author or institution
- Lauren Joseph / Epicurious
- Publication year
- 2023
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Documentary reference
- Page, table or passage
- Chocolate–water principle, method attributed to Hervé This
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-10
Principle adapted as a small metric formula; this is not JB’s personal recipe.
Theobroma cacao — NCBI Taxonomy
- Author or institution
- NCBI / NLM
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Documentary reference
- Page, table or passage
- Lineage: Malvaceae, Byttnerioideae, Theobroma
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-10
Taxonomic lineage reference; it does not determine local cultivars.
Five keys to safer food manual
- Author or institution
- World Health Organization
- Publication year
- 2006
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Documentary reference
- Page, table or passage
- Cleanliness, raw/cooked separation, cooking, temperature and safe water
- Date accessed
- 2026-09-10
Hygiene principles; no recipe-specific shelf life is validated.