Macambo, the white cacao: everything you need to know – Cacao Blanco
Introduction
Macambo, also known as white cacao or Cacao Blanco, is a rare cacao species with the botanical name Theobroma bicolor. The cacao tree grows in Ecuador’s Amazon Basin and differs in many ways from the familiar cacao, Theobroma cacao, while also sharing some similarities.
This article tells you everything you need to know about this little-known superfood.
Contents
- What is Macambo – white cacao?
- Nutritional composition of Macambo (Theobroma bicolor)
- What Macambo tastes like
- Uses
- Macambo cultivation in Ecuador by the Kichwa people
- Conclusion
1. What is Macambo – white cacao?
Macambo is an unusual white or cream-coloured cacao variety from Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest. Because it is rich in nutrients, it is an important crop in the Kichwa people’s Chakra (forest gardens). In addition to the best-known names Macambo and Cacao Blanco, it is also known as Jaguar Tree, Balamte and Pataxte.
The Aztecs used Cacao Blanco to make chocolate, just as they did with the familiar cacao bean. Spanish colonists considered Macambo inferior, which may explain why today we are more familiar with Theobroma cacao.
Theobroma bicolor, by contrast, has a pleasant natural flavour, making the bean an excellent snack raw, roasted or fried.
The Macambo bean is flat and oval, with grooves and ridges like a walnut, which also make it resemble a brain.
2. Nutritional composition of Macambo (Theobroma bicolor)
Macambo is a nut high in carbohydrates. In this respect, it differs considerably from the Sacha Inchi nut, which also grows in the Amazon and contains more protein and fat, including plenty of omega-3.
White cacao contains approximately the following per 100 g:
- Energy: 1816 kJ/433 kcal
-
Fat: 20(g)
- Saturated fat: 6.7(g)
- Trans fat: 0(g)
- Monounsaturated fat: 10(g)
- Polyunsaturated fat: 0(g)
-
Carbohydrates: 46.7(g)
- Of which sugars: 0(g)
- Fibre: 6.7(g)
- Protein: 20(g)
- Cholesterol (g)
- Salt
- Iron: 6 g
- Potassium: 6 g
Most of the fat consists of monounsaturated fatty acids such as omega-9. It also contains caffeine and theobromine. Both are active compounds also found in guayusa, where they have a strong stimulating effect.
Even after extensive research, no precise figures could be found for the quantities of these compounds. Nevertheless, its high protein, carbohydrate and fat content makes Macambo a super-seed that belongs more in the “nuts” category than the cacao category.
2.1 Effects
Macambo is often called the “Brain Bean”. This is not only because its appearance resembles a brain, but especially because it provides a lot of energy in the form of carbohydrates, caffeine and theobromine. It also contains fats and proteins that remain available over a longer period and are important for athletes during hiking, endurance and strength training.
3. What Macambo tastes like
With its crisp yet buttery texture, white cacao makes a particularly appealing snack, for example roasted with salt or chilli, or simply raw. Its flavour is only mildly reminiscent of cacao and is much nuttier and more buttery.
Like ordinary cacao, Macambo also has white fruit pulp, which can be made into a sweet juice or powder.
4. Uses
Image source: https://chocante.pl/en/pataxte-white-cocoa-mocambo-theobroma-bicolor/
The Brain Bean can be eaten as an energy-giving snack or used to add variety to dishes such as salads and soups.
Like cacao, Macambo can also be used to make chocolate. Unlike the “white chocolate” familiar here, this white cacao chocolate is not just made from sugar and cocoa butter: it is actually white because of the colour of the cacao bean. That is where the name Cacao Blanco, meaning “white cacao”, comes from.
4.1 Traditional uses of Cacao Blanco
The Ecuadorian non-profit Aliados has described Macambo as one of the important crops for revitalising and preserving the biodiverse, traditional “Chakra” agroforestry system.
Traditionally in Ecuador, Macambo is eaten raw as a snack while working in the fields, or fried with other field vegetables, beans and roots.
In the Aztec Empire, however, Macambo was much more than that. For example, the Aztecs’ sacred writings say:
“This shall be our food: maize, pepper, beans, cacao and pataxte...”
Alongside the dark cacao familiar to us, white cacao was an important everyday food.
In Aztec times, prepared cacao was described as an especially creamy drink with white foam, rather like a cappuccino. Yet when cacao is prepared today, even ceremonial cacao, that light creaminess is missing. The reason seems to have been that cacao was mixed with Macambo.
White cacao could therefore make an excellent combination for cacao lovers.
5. Macambo cultivation in Ecuador by the Kichwa people
Most demand is met through wild harvesting. Unlike guayusa, Sacha Inchi, vanilla, lemongrass and other crops grown in the Kichwa people’s forest gardens, Cacao Blanco is not very widespread.
In Kichwa tradition, however, all plants are grown in so-called Chakras, whether for personal use, local trade or export. Learn more about this remarkable farming system, modelled on the Amazon rainforest, in the article “Life and traditions of the Kichwa and Quechua peoples”.
6. Conclusion
Macambo is a little-known super-bean with many uses. As a snack, it is an excellent addition to other nuts and can add variety to salads and other dishes.
Buying Macambo for GUYA’s future product range could also support Kichwa farmers by creating another source of income.
The ecological aspect also matters. Alongside the familiar Theobroma cacao, Theobroma bicolor could add biodiversity to Chakra forest gardens and help protect the Amazon rainforest.
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