The Genetic Diversity of Cacao and its Utilization

Hardback  368 pp  ISBN 0851996191      £75.00

• Discusses the procedures for collecting and conserving the diversity of Cacao
• Is the only comprehensive treatment of the subject
• Contains 32 pages of colour plates

This book provides a comprehensive review of our current knowledge of the diversity of the species. It starts by examining the diversity and inheritance of the characteristics of primitive populations in the Amazonian and Caribbean regions. It then looks at the evolution of diversity within cultivated populations first in South America and around the Caribbean, and then beyond the Americas. The book describes the inter-relationships between populations based on morphological and molecular markers. It also examines the conservation of genetic resources and how these genetic resources can be utilized to produce new cultivars.

Readership: Plant genetics and breeding, botany, cocoa and the chocolate industry

Contents

• Foreword, Tony Lass
• The Background to the Subject: Concepts and a Brief History
• The Terminology Specific to Cacao
• The Indicators of Variability
• The Manifestation of the Diversity and its Conservation
• The Foundations of the Diversity
• The Amazonian Region
• The Circum-Caribbean Region

• Introduction, Part 1: South America - Populations Derived from an Amazonian Region Germplasm Base, Part 2: The Circum-Caribbean Region and Neighbouring Territories Populations that Evolved from a Criollo Germplasm Base Part 3: Cacao Beyond the Americas - The Export

• The Relationships among Populations
• The Utilization of the Genetic Resources
• Epilogue - Final Remarks