Bot. [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 Theobromic a. Chem. in theobromic acid: see quots.; Theobromine, 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. 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.
