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The discovery of three new species of plant, close relatives to the tree that grows cocoa beans, has been hailed by scientists as an opportunity to produce sustainable, climate-proof chocolate.
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In the rainforests of South America, the discovery of Theobroma globosum, T. nervosum and T. schultesii were found to bear significant resemblance to Theobroma cacao, the cocoa-bearing plant which holds huge economic value throughout the world.
The team of scientists comprised researchers from the University College Cork, the University of São Paulo, and the New York Botanical Garden. They believe their discovery could prove to boost the sustainability of cacao production and thus manufacturing chocolate, as the plants could develop more climate-proof cacao trees.
The University College Cork’s Dr James Richardson, who led the project, said: “That there were recently unknown species closely related to Theobroma cacao, which is of huge importance for the production of chocolate and other products, shows how much more work there is to be done to catalog the vast amount of unknown biodiversity across our planet.”
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Rising chocolate prices
He went on to explain that cacao prices have “trebled” in recent months as a result of droughts in West Africa, which is the area of greatest production. “The discovery of new species, in addition to those already known, expands the genetic resources that are available to us that might allow us to produce drought-tolerant or disease-resistant cacao trees,” he added.
The mentioned rise in prices reached all-time high records this year, as disease and unfavorable weather conditions destroyed crops in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Local farmers have complained about a lack of investment, and have had to rely on aging plantations. Prices began to fall again as the drought began to break, but fears persist that the climate crisis will bring fresh problems. With this in mind, the world’s chocolate industry may welcome the news of these new cacao plants.
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