Shells of the seed of Theobroma cacao L., Sterculiaceae. Habit. Brazil, Central America, Mexico, West Indies, and most tropical countries. Constit. Theobromine, caffeine, cacao red, protein, pentosans, pectic acid, starch. Ref: Dittmar, Engenharia e quim 5, no. 1, 1 (1953), C.A. 48, 2949e (1954). Monographs: E. M. Chatt, Cocoa (Interscience, New York, 1953); D. H. Urquhart, Cocoa (Longmans, London, 1961); Powell, Harris, Chocolate and Cocoa in Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology vol. 5 (Interscience, New York, 2nd ed., 1964) pp 363-402.