The True Origins of Criollo | #PSC 191

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Episode 191 Overview

This episode of #PodSaveChocolate was inspired by an email newsletter I received last week, directing me to the following blog post:

Criollo: The Most Mythical Cacao Bean.

Criollo is one of the rarest and most revered cacao families in the world. Discover what makes it so special, why Porcelana is often confused with it, and how cacao genetics shape chocolate flavor.

Chef Robert Cabeca

The broad topic, “Where did [the plant we now call] cacao originate?” is a question whose answers – rooted in an increasingly better understanding of the cacao genome – have been emerging since 2008’s pioneering paper, ‘Geographic and Genetic Population Differentiation of the Amazonian Chocolate Tree (Theobroma cacao L[[1]]).’”

[[1]]: The “L” stands for botanist Carolus (Carl) Linnaeus. In botanical nomenclature, the person who first publishes a species name is cited after the Latin binomial.  Other abbreviation examples include, “Mill.” for Philip Miller, and “DC.” for de Candolle.

MY TL;DR assessment: As an introductory, consumer-facing essay, the blog is broadly correct: it captures rarity, flavor profile, fragility, and the idea that “Criollo” cacao is historically important and now rare. However, it relies on (now) outdated concepts of “Criollo” and glosses over key genetic, geographic, and historical nuances.

This episode takes a closer look at the claims made in the blog about the origins of Criollos through the lens of my own research on the topic dating back to 2008[[2]]. In that respect it is in the same vein as recent fact-checking episodes on Maïa Ceremonial Cacao and Pono Cocoa: What techniques can you use to determine the veracity of the claims an author is making?

[[2]]: I echoed the tradtional tri-partite classification in my book, Discover Chocolate, published in 2007. I tried hard to write an evergreen book, not anticipating how genomic research going on as I was writing it would make it out of date within a year of publication.

And, to be honest, I have to admit my understanding of the timeline and geography did not reflect the most recent research. My bad.

So, I am also writing this to address misstatements in my public record. (You can’t assume I am correct – fact check me, too.)

Source Citations

A revisited history of cacao domestication in pre-Columbian times revealed by archaeogenomic approaches - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - A revisited history of cacao domestication in pre-Columbian times revealed by archaeogenomic approaches

NatureClaire Lanaud

I was fortunate to meet Francisco Valdez in Guayaquil, Ecuador in 2022, and attended a lecture about finds in Santa Ana - La Florida (near La Palanda in Zamora Chinchipe, Ecuador). Dr Valdez is a co-author on the above paper.

Population genomic analyses of the chocolate tree, Theobroma cacao L., provide insights into its domestication process - Communications Biology

Omar Cornejo et al. report a genomic analysis of 200 cacao plants (Theobroma cacao L.) representing more than 10 genetically distinct populations. They identify metabolic and disease resistance genes as contributing to the domestication of cacao and show that domesticated populations maintain a high proportion of deleterious mutations.

NatureOmar E. Cornejo

Geographic and Genetic Population Differentiation of the Amazonian Chocolate Tree (Theobroma cacao L)

Numerous collecting expeditions of Theobroma cacao L. germplasm have been undertaken in Latin-America. However, most of this germplasm has not contributed to cacao improvement because its relationship to cultivated selections was poorly understood. Germplasm labeling errors have impeded breeding and confounded the interpretation of diversity analyses. To improve the understanding of the origin, classification, and population differentiation within the species, 1241 accessions covering a large geographic sampling were genotyped with 106 microsatellite markers. After discarding mislabeled samples, 10 genetic clusters, as opposed to the two genetic groups traditionally recognized within T. cacao, were found by applying Bayesian statistics. This leads us to propose a new classification of the cacao germplasm that will enhance its management. The results also provide new insights into the diversification of Amazon species in general, with the pattern of differentiation of the populations studied supporting the palaeoarches hypothesis of species diversification. The origin of the traditional cacao cultivars is also enlightened in this study.

PLOS OneJuan C. Motamayor ,

I was fortunate to have met Juan Carlos Motamayor at the Frontiers in Cacao Science symposium at Penn State in 2015. I reached out to him for additional source citations for this post.

Cacao domestication I: the origin of the cacao cultivated by the Mayas - Heredity

Heredity - Cacao domestication I: the origin of the cacao cultivated by the Mayas

NatureJ C Motamayor

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