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Scientists Discover New Plants That Could Lead to Climate-Proof Chocolate

Discovery of three new species in the Western Amazon could pave way for more climate-proof cacao production — and shows how many treasures are still yet to be discovered in Earth's biodiversity.

Published 3 months ago | About a 3 minute read

Image: Theobroma globosum | Douglas C Daly/New York Botanical Garden

It’s a distressing situation for many serotonin lovers around the world: Two of the world’s most beloved treats — chocolate and coffee — are made from two of our most climate-challenged commodities: Crop yields and prices for both coffee and cacao are becoming increasingly volatile as extreme weather hampers production in the tropical, equatorial regions where both are cultivated.

But researchers, brands and startup innovators are busy developing potential solutions to save both of our favorite indulgences: On the coffee front, Starbucks has developed climate-resistant coffee tree varietals; VTT researchers have added the brew to the growing list of foods that could pivot from land-grown to lab-grown cultivation; and a growing number of startups are upcycling various forms of food waste to recreate the brew without the climate-sensitive beans.

As for chocolate, UK startup WNWN has replaced cacao with climate-friendlier ingredients; and both researchers and brands are working to expand use of the whole cacao plant to increase the resilience of cocoa farms.

And now, a team of researchers has found three new species of plants that are close relatives to cacao — a discovery that could pave the way for climate-proof chocolate.

The new species, discovered in the western basin of the Amazon rainforest, are closely related to Theobroma cacao — the tree that produces cocoa beans, which are of tremendous culinary and economic importance.

The research team — comprising scientists from University College Cork (UCC), the University of São Paulo and New York Botanical Garden — hail their finding as significant, as it indicates the amount of work yet to be done to characterize Earth's biodiversity.

The team, which includes Dr James Richardson of UCC’s School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences (BEES) and the Environmental Research Institute, found three new species within the section Herrania: T. globosum, T. nervosum and T. schultesii.

“These new species were discovered as a result of studying specimens in herbaria and demonstrate the importance of maintaining these natural history collections, as many more species remain to be discovered within them,” Richardson said. “That there were recently unknown species closely related to Theobroma cacao, which is of huge importance for the production of chocolate and other products, shows how much more work there is to be done to catalogue the vast amount of unknown biodiversity across our planet.”

The discovery reinforces a recent campaign from Natura, Forbes and Africa Creative that put the Amazon atop Forbes’ Billionaires list — highlighting the power and value of the rainforest’s $317B bioeconomy, and that the standing forest is worth seven times more than the potential earnings from its destruction.

Richardson said the team’s discovery — published in the journal, Kew Bulletin — could lead to the development of more climate-resilient cacao trees, which would help sustain the production of products derived from cacao such as chocolate.

“Cacao prices have trebled in recent months due to low production, as a result of a prolonged period of drought in West Africa — which is the area of greatest production,” Richardson said. “The discovery of new species, in addition to those already known, expands the genetic resources that are available to us that might allow us to produce drought-tolerant or disease-resistant cacao trees.”

In the meantime, chocolate lovers everywhere would do well to keep in mind the instability — and broader environmental and social impacts — behind production of their favorite treat, and make more conscious purchasing decisions.