The Bittersweet Blog has up a nice post on botanical classifications for cacao some of you might enjoy. We’ve long tried to explain that there’s far more to good chocolate than it merely being made of beans from criollo trees. There’s just more diversity than that. New genetic research is showing some of that diversity.

PLoS One (an online biological journal) has the full story. “Geographic and Genetic Population Differentiation of the Amazonian Chocolate Tree”

One thing to keep in mind as well is that these trees have continued to evolve, especially in different locations. The genetics of individual plantations may actually vary a fair bit. So far as I know there hasn’t been much study on this aspect of diversity. That’s one reason why it’s so important to support local cacao farmers. To maintain the diversity of cacao in the world when there is so much pressure against diversity.