Cacao is a commodity crop from the tropics cultivated by about 6 million smallholder farmers. The tree, Theobroma cacao, originated in the Upper Amazon where it was domesticated ca. 5450 to 5300 B.P. From this center of origin, cacao was dispersed and cultivated in Mesoamerica as early as 3800 to 3000 B.P. After the European conquest of the Americas (the 1500s), cacao cultivation intensified in several loci, primarily Mesoamerica, Trinidad, Venezuela, and Ecuador. It was during the colonial period that cacao diseases began emerging as threats to production. One early example is the collapse of the cacao industry in Trinidad in the 1720s, attributed to an unknown disease referred to as the “blast”. Trinidad would resurface as a production center due to the discovery of the Trinitario genetic group, which is still widely used in breeding programs around the world. However, a resurgence of diseases like frosty pod rot during the republican period (the late 1800s and early 1900s) had profound impacts on other centers of Latin American production, especially in Venezuela and Ecuador, shifting the focus of cacao production southward, to Bahia, Brazil. Production in Bahia was, in turn, dramatically curtailed by the introduction of witches’ broom disease in the late 1980s. Today, most of the world’s cacao production occurs in West Africa and parts of Asia, where the primary Latin American diseases have not yet spread. In this review, we discuss the history of cacao cultivation in the Americas and how that history has been shaped by the emergence of diseases.

可可是热带地区的商品作物，大约有600万小农户种植。树，可可树，起源于上亚马逊地区，在此被驯化。5450至5300 BP从这个起源中心开始，可可早在3800至3000 BP就在中美洲传播和种植。在美洲征服美洲（1500年代）之后，可可的种植在几个地点加强了，主要是中美洲，特立尼达，委内瑞拉，和厄瓜多尔。在殖民时期，可可病开始对生产构成威胁。一个早期的例子是，特立尼达的可可工业在20世纪20年代崩溃，原因是这种未知疾病被称为“爆炸病”。由于发现了特里尼塔里奥遗传集团，特立尼达将重新成为生产中心，该集团目前仍在世界各地的育种计划中广泛使用。然而，共和时期（1800年代末和1900年代初）诸如霜荚果腐烂之类疾病的死灰复燃对拉丁美洲的其他生产中心（尤其是委内瑞拉和厄瓜多尔）产生了深远的影响，使可可生产的重点转移到了巴西的巴伊亚州。反过来，由于1980年代后期女巫的扫帚病的引入，巴伊亚州的生产急剧减少。如今，世界上大多数可可豆生产都发生在西非和亚洲部分地区，在这些地区尚未传播主要的拉丁美洲疾病。在这篇评论中，我们讨论了美洲可可种植的历史，以及疾病的出现如何塑造了这种历史。前往巴西巴伊亚州。反过来，由于1980年代后期女巫的扫帚病的引入，巴伊亚州的生产急剧减少。如今，世界上大多数可可豆生产都发生在西非和亚洲部分地区，在这些地区尚未传播主要的拉丁美洲疾病。在这篇评论中，我们讨论了美洲可可种植的历史，以及疾病的出现如何塑造了这种历史。前往巴西巴伊亚州。反过来，由于1980年代后期女巫的扫帚病的引入，巴伊亚州的生产急剧减少。如今，世界上大多数可可豆生产都发生在西非和亚洲部分地区，在这些地区尚未传播主要的拉丁美洲疾病。在这篇评论中，我们讨论了美洲可可种植的历史，以及疾病的出现如何塑造了这种历史。