Theobromine is a bitter alkaloid of the methylxanthine family, which also includes the similar compounds theophylline and caffeine. Despite its name, the compound contains no bromine — theobromine is derived from Theobroma, the genus of the cacao tree, which is composed of the Greek roots theo ("God") and broma ("food"), meaning "food of the gods", with the suffix -ine given to alkaloids and other basic nitrogen-containing compounds.