Chocolate lovers may not realize it, but the future of one of the world's most popular foods is increasingly under pressure.
Chocolate lovers may not realize it, but the future of one of the world's most popular foods is increasingly under pressure. Diseases, shifting weather patterns and other environmental stressors are threatening cacao production globally, contributing to supply concerns and economic challenges for the millions of farmers who grow the crop that makes chocolate possible.
Now, after decades of research, Penn State scientists have developed a new disease-tolerant variety of cacao — and they said it has the potential to fundamentally change the chocolate industry.
The new cacao variety builds on decades of research led by Mark Guiltinan, J. Franklin Styer Professor of Horticultural Botany and professor of plant molecular biology in the Department of Plant Sciences at Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, and Siela Maximova, research professor of plant biotechnology in the same department.
Read More at: Penn State University
Just-harvested cacao pods display a range of vivid colors. (Photo Credit: Mark Guiltinan / Penn State)
