Who among the following was the first European to encounter the Cacao plant, from which chocolate is made ?

Christopher Columbus was the first European to encounter the cacao plant during his fourth and final voyage to the Americas in 1502. While the cacao plant is indigenous to tropical America and was found growing wild in lowland Central America [c1], it was only introduced to Europe after Columbus's accidental discovery of the continent [c3]. During his fourth voyage, Columbus intercepted a large Mayan trading canoe near the coast of present-day Honduras, which contained 'almonds' (cacao beans) that the natives valued highly as currency. Although Columbus did not realize their potential for making chocolate, he was the first to bring these beans back to Spain. Later, Hernán Cortés encountered cacao in the Aztec Empire [c5][t3] and is credited with introducing the beverage to the Spanish court, but Columbus remains the first European to have physically encountered the plant and its seeds.

Sources

1. [1] Environment and Ecology, Majid Hussain (Access publishing 3rd ed.) > Chapter 12: Major Crops and Cropping Patterns in India > Cocoa or Cacao (Teobroma Cacao) > p. 46
2. [2] India and the Contemporary World – II. History-Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 3: The Making of a Global World > 1.2 Food Travels: Spaghetti and Potato > p. 54
3. [3] History , class XII (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 10: Modern World: The Age of Reason > Voyage of Magellan > p. 138