U.S. Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service
Cocoa Bean Fungus
[Running time:  ~ 1:45]

Welcome to Focus on Ag Research from the Agricultural Research Service or ARS.  ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific research agency.

A fungus is threatening one of our most beloved foods—chocolate. The fungus causes “frosty pod rot,” a disease that can destroy up to 90 percent of cocoa beans. This means less beans to make cocoa, cocoa butter and chocolate.

Growers have fought frosty pod rot in the past by planting disease-tolerant cacao trees, which produces cocoa beans. But the fungus now threatens cacao varieties considered highly tolerant to it.

Scientists in Costa Rica and at the ARS facility in Beltsville, Maryland, have teamed up to trace the fungus to its ancestral home. This gives researchers a place to start searching for new disease tolerant cacao trees. It may also reveal new clues about the fungus’ genetic diversity, and its ability to adapt to environment. 

Such a discovery would benefit chocolate lovers worldwide, who annually consume more than 3 million tons of cocoa beans.

To learn more about this research, visit AgResearch magazine at www.agresearchmag.ars.usda.gov.  

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