cocoa beans

Cocoa beans (also called cacao) are the dried and fermented seed of Theobroma cacao. The fruit, called a cacao pod, is ovoid, long and wide, ripening yellow to orange. The pod contains 20 to 60 seeds (or beans) embedded in a white pulp. Each seed contains a significant amount of fat (40–50 percent) as cocoa butter. The three main varieties of cocoa plant are Forastero (most common), Criollo (rarer, a delicacy), and Trinitario.

Its seeds are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. The fruit's active constituent is the stimulant theobromine, a compound similar to caffeine.