While the British Government and the chocolate industry wrangle over whether to spend a £4 million bonanza on genetic research into cocoa (This Week 13 May), such work continues on a shoestring.
About 30 per cent of the world's chocolate is gobbled up by rats and squirrels before it is even harvested from the cacao tree. Self-funded scientists at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad have identified that rodents prefer to consume cocoa pods which are crunchy and thin-walled. The results, published in the tropical biology journal Biotropica, were a surprise, as most animals prefer soft fruit. Most fruit soften upon ripening, whereas cocoa pods become harder and hence more attractive to rodents
Identifying what squirrels like about eating chocolate has allowed the genetic selection of cacao trees immune to rodents. One particular clone has been found which is never touched by rats or squirrels. This appears to ...
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.