Details of Medicinal Plants

Cacao

Theobroma cacao L. Malvaceae

This plant is a small tropical evergreen, and grows wild in Central and South America. The plant height is 4 to 10 meters and the flowering period is June to August. This plant likes a lot of rain, and an environment of high temperature and humidity (the annual mean air temperature is 24 to 28 degrees Celsius). The butter extracted from the seed of this plant is used as the base material for suppositories, and it is famous as an ingredient of chocolate and cocoa.

Part used: cacao butter
Medicinal use: base material of suppositories

The plant is cauliflory which means the flower blooms from the trunk and main branches directly rather than from growing tips.

The pollination rate is low. A lot of flowers grow together to form one fruit.

Each fruit contains 20 to 60 seeds.