Current Cacao OMICS and Future Prospects

Abstract

Theobroma cacao is one of the most highly valued and consumed agriculture products in the world with Europe as the top consumer and Africa as the top producer. In recent years, there has been an observed constant increase in cacao consumption and demand in the world and this trend will continue to 2020 as the International Cacao Organization (ICCO) has forecasted. This in turn, caused massive campaign by both the current chocolate producing countries and other tropical countries where cacao can thrive to have it cultivated along with their existing crops on the field. With the high demand for cacao, the technology in cacao farming must keep with the production pace. The traditional farming will not suffice anymore as persistent problems like poor yield, pest and diseases, flood, drought and the heavy metal acquisition of the plant continues to hamper production. To address these issues in cacao production, crop scientists are looking for alternative and modern ways to provide answers and one of these prospects is the application of omics in cacao science. After the complete cacao genome sequence was published, numerous researches in cacao omics have been conducted and this has slowly dissected the molecular mechanisms of cacao in terms of disease resistance, growth and development and its molecular composition. The future of cacao omics is bright, with the chocolate industry will ultimately benefit from this advancement along with the other developing countries where cacao farming is present. 