Scientists discover new plant species that could lead to 'climate proof' chocolate

Climate scientists have said chocolate, along with other items such as coffee and bananas, may become precious commodities because of the vulnerability to climate change of the crops from which they are derived.

A team of scientists has discovered three new species of plant which they say could be used to help safeguard chocolate from the impacts of climate change.

In recent years, climate scientists have said chocolate, along with other items such as coffee and bananas, may become precious commodities only afforded by the wealthy in the future because of the vulnerability to climate change of the crops from which they are derived.

Most of the chocolate we know and enjoy originates from cocoa grown in countries along a narrow band of about 20 degrees latitude around the Equator. 

Most of the world's chocolate production is concentrated in West African countries like Ghana and the Ivory Coast, a region which has been grappling with intense heat and severe drought conditions over the last decade or so, and resultant low production levels have already seen the price of chocolate rapidly rise worldwide.

Now, however, a team of researchers from University College Cork (UCC), Brazil’s University of São Paulo and the New York Botanical Garden, say they have discovered three new species which are close relatives of the cocao plant, which have the potential to “climate-proof” chocolate.

The new species — Herrania: T globosum, T nervosum, and T schultesii — which were discovered in the rain forests of South America, are closely related to Theobroma cacao, the tree that bears cocoa beans used to make chocolate.

For this reason, the researchers say, they could assist in the development of more climate-resilient cacao trees, helping to sustain the production of chocolate.

The team conducted detailed examinations of leaves, flowers, and fruits, and collaborated with multiple botanical institutions to reach their discovery. Their findings were recently published in the scientific journal Kew Bulletin.

Dr James Richardson of UCC’s School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Environmental Research Institute, one of the trio of scientists who made the discovery, said the new species could help expand "the genetic resources that are available to us that might allow us to produce drought-tolerant or disease resistant cacao trees".

“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," he said.

Dr Richardson also said his team's work demonstrated how much work was still to be done in characterising Earth's biodiversity.

“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,” he added.

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