The Fascinating Process of Harvesting Cacao Beans: From Mayans to Modern Times

The beginning of the video effectively catches the audience's attention by explaining the geographical conditions required for the growth of cacao trees. No suggestions for improvement.
But it had less to do with their detective abilities than their geographical location You see the cacao tree needs incredibly specific conditions to grow like a temperature of 25 degrees and a humidity of 80% or above Conditions only met by certain locations along the equator of the Earth one of which the Mayans occupied To this day a majority of the world's cacao supply comes from this region and the way cacao is harvested hasn't changed much since the age of the Mayans either This is mainly because cacao trees are incredibly delicate and the cacao pods don't just simply fall to the ground For this reason they're cut off manually one one by one This can be grueling work and it doesn't get much easier later on because the beans need to be taken out manually as well This means each worker has to sit down and channel their inner fruit ninja to secure the beans which at this point are covered by a sticky white pulp If you think that doesn't look anything like chocolate you'd be right The cacao beans have yet to go through a crucial process to their look and smell The beans and the pulp are placed in special fermentation boxes covered by banana leaves where they're kept for three to nine days This process is important because not only does it kill bacteria and get rid of the white pulp but also gives the beans their signature brown color and taste