Nestlé plant scientists, in collaboration with leading research institutions, have mapped the diversity of cocoa varieties in an effort to safeguard the future of chocolate. This work led to the establishment of a cocoa core collection consisting of 96 cocoa varieties.
Representing over 95% of global cocoa genetic diversity, the collection will help researchers and breeders to more efficiently identify plants with desirable traits such as climate resilience, disease tolerance, higher yield, and sensory quality. As climate change, pests, and diseases impact cocoa yields and farmer livelihoods, this work lays a crucial foundation for building a more resilient supply chain.
This research, published in BMC Genomics, was a collaboration between The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), Fox Consultancy, and Nestlé Research. The newly developed core collection includes several high-quality genome sequences generated by Penn State through its longstanding Molecular Biology of Cacao research program. CATIE, based in Costa Rica, also provided access to one of the world’s largest living cacao collections, which includes several genotypes represented in this core collection.
The sequencing data is publicly available via the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database, and the corresponding trees are accessible at CATIE, Penn State, and other locations.
“Assembling the world’s genetic diversity of cocoa into a well-curated collection, or a ‘Noah’s Ark’ of cocoa diversity, not only makes sense from a conservation point of view,” said Jeroen Dijkman, Head of the Nestlé Institute of Agricultural Sciences. “It will also allow us to uncover key traits that can be used in traditional breeding programs to safeguard the future of cocoa.”
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