Slides: History Of Chocolate

History of chocolate. Why I choose chocolate? How it all started. Fun facts. How chocolate changed people and places? Positivities and negativities of chocolate. Revolution of chocolate. Video. Conclusion. Thank you for your attention!

I was always interesed in how chocolate was invented so I thought it was a great opportunity to learn more about the treat that people love.

Chocolate’s 4,000-year history began in ancient Mesoamerica, present day Mexico. It’s here that the first cacao plants were found. The Olmec, one of the earliest civilizations in Latin America, were the first to turn the cacao plant into chocolate. They drank their chocolate during rituals and used it as medicine. By the 15th century, the Aztecs used cocoa beans as currency. They believed that chocolate was a gift from the god Quetzalcoatl, and drank it as a refreshing beverage, an aphrodisiac, and even to prepare for war.

Chocolate has more than 300 natural chemicals It takes 400 cocoa beans to make one pound of chocolate. Chocolate has over 600 flavor compounds while red wine has just 200. A farmer must wait four to five years for a cacao tree to produce its first beans.