Chocolate

Plant Medicine, Excitantia, Caffeine plant

Chocolate

Theobroma cacao

Chocolate is the fermented seed of Theobroma cacao (genus name = "food of the gods," Linnaeus's coinage). First cultivated by the Olmecs (~1500 BCE) and central to Mesoamerican cosmology — Aztec yollotl-eztli ("heart-blood") was its poetic name. Drunk frothed and bitter, often as a soldier's ration before battle. Brought to Europe by the Spanish in the 16th century and slowly tamed with sugar.

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See also

Coffee, Tea, Caffeine

References

Pharmacy

Preparations

Fermented and roasted seeds, ground. Mexican tradition: drunk with chili, cornmeal, achiote. European tradition: with sugar and milk

Common uses

Classification(s)

Classes

Plant Medicine, Excitantia, Caffeine plant

Pharmacology

Routes

Oral

Purported mechanism

Primary alkaloid is theobromine (3,7-dimethylxanthine), with minor caffeine. Also contains phenethylamine, anandamide (an endogenous cannabinoid), tryptophan (serotonin precursor), and flavanols. The combined effect is mild stimulation + mood elevation.

“Pendell's corner

That the poets drank chocolate is clear. Foamy chocolate. Flowery chocolate. So they could share flowery songs, dream-stirring songs.

— Dale Pendell, Pharmako/Dynamis, p. 245