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This is how chocolate starts – from a raw cacao plant in the Amazon basin.

plant in existence. The word chocolate comes from the word “xocolatl,” a word used by Mayan people meaning “bitter water.” The Mayans started making a drink comprised of water, crushed cacao beans, and chili peppers around 900 B.C. They loved it for its energy-giving properties and even called it “food of the gods” (imagine how much more they liked it once sugar was introduced to Central America)! JABUTICABA Jabuticaba is an exotic fruit that grows only in the Amazonian jungle of Brazil. It tastes like a slippery-skinned grape but actually looks like a horde of beetles invading the tree it grows on. Its fruit is used to make tarts, jams, strong wines, and even liqueurs. Its sun-dried skin can be used to treat asthma, diarrhea, and as a gargle for inflamed tonsils. Several anti-cancer compounds have been discovered in this fruit.

12 INTO THE WORLD’S AMAZING JUNGLES: JUNGLE BUGS & VEGETATION