Mark Guiltinan's Page

"Romi, check out the world cocoa foundation website....  they have a very good library of cacao science.....   http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/scientific-research/research-library.html   Mark Guiltinan"

"I have heard that term used in Ecuador too.  It is a great idea to work with farmers to identify elite trees (farmer participatory selection in plant breeder terms).  Individual plants with elite traits must be propagated vegetatively to…"

"No sorry I do not have a source of seeds but have seen them online from time to time. Problem is, they have no dormancy, so its pretty difficult. They are restricted for importation into the US so to do it legally you need a phytosanitary permit…"

"Yes you are right, the color, indicating the presence of flavonoids, is found in most cacao, but some "rare/pure" are white/pinkish. Normally, the purple color trait segregates as a dominant trait, so yes, in a cross with a criollo, the…"

"I have grown cacao plants indoors and they can adapt to low humidity just fine. I have produced pods in the elevator lobby outside my office! Check out the attached pdf with instructions how to grow a cacao plant indoors, complete with pictures of…"

"Just to be clear about the photo... the wrinkled things near the bottom are the cotyledons, which are formed during embryo development and make up the bulk of the seed, after germination these stay on the plant for a week or two and all the…"