‖ Theobroma Bot.
(θiːəʊˈbrəʊmə)
[mod.L., f. Gr. θεός god + βρῶµα food.]
A genus of low trees, of which one species, Theobroma Cacao, a native of tropical America, and now naturalized in other warm countries, is the source of cocoa and chocolate. Hence theoˈbromic a. Chem. in theobromic acid: see quots.; theobromine (θiːəʊˈbrəʊmaɪn), a bitter volatile alkaloid, C7H8N4O2, resembling caffeine, contained in the seeds of the cacao tree.
| [1737 Linnæus Genera Plant. 367 Polyadelphia. 1. Pentandria. *Theobroma.] 1760 Lee Introd. Bot. App. (1788) 331/2 Chocolate-nut, Theobroma. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxxi. (1794) 478 In..Theobroma, or Chocolate..it [the nectary] is Bell-shaped. 1871 Garrod Mat. Med. (ed. 3) 194 Oil of Theobroma... Cacao Butter. A concrete oil obtained by expression and heat from the ground seeds of Theobroma Cacao. |
| 1878 Kingzett in Jrnl. Chem. Soc. XXXIII. 44, I propose for it the name of *Theobromic acid, which recalls the source from which it is obtained, namely, the fat of the seeds of Theobroma Cacao. 1881 Watts Dict. Chem. VIII. 1922 Theobromic acid, C64H128O2. This acid, the highest known member of the fatty series, has been obtained..from cacao⁓butter. |
| 1842 Penny Cycl. XXIV. 313/2 The analysis of *Theobromine by Wosresensky shows..that this article [chocolate]..must be highly nutritious. 1887 C. A. Moloney Forestry W. Afr. 165 They contain a very appreciable quantity of theobromine, which assists the action of caffein and possesses similar properties to that base. |