934 



FOODS AND FOOD ADULTERANTS. 



After removal from the fruit two processes are used for the prepara- 

 tion of the seeds for market. For the production of " unfermented 

 cocoa," they are freed from adhering fruit pulp and at once dried in 

 the sun. For the production of " fermented cocoa," the beans are placed 

 in piles in sheds or are buried in trenches and allowed to ferment for 

 a time before being completely dried in the sun. When buried the 

 beans are now placed in casks or other coverings ; hence, the earthy 

 coating is no longer a mark for determining the process of preparation. 

 Much of the acridity and bitterness disappears in this process of fer- 

 mentation ; the beans so prepared have a mildly oleaginous, pleasant, 

 slightly bitter taste, and are more or less aromatic. The value of the 

 product therefore greatly depends upon the care bestowed upon this 

 operation. 



Bernhardt ' has made a careful study of the losses occurring in the 

 preliminary processes of manufacture. He notes four main operations : 



(1) The sifting of the raw cocoa to remove sand, dust, small stones, 

 etc. 



(2) The separation by hand of the larger stones, empty beans, grass, 

 wood, etc. 



(3) The roasting. 



(4) The breaking up and cleaning to remove the husks. 



He gives the results of thirty determinations, made in actual factory 

 work, of the losses in each of these processes. The means, maxima, 

 and minima of these determinations will be found in the table given 

 below. In this table the term " beans " is used to denote both the good 

 broken pieces and the small particles, which, of less value and consti- 

 tuting 9 to 15 per cent of the whole bean, are used for the preparation 

 of cheaper chocolates. 



Losses in preliminary preparation for manufacture. 



The following table, from the Annual Report of the Bureau of Statis- 

 tics of the United States Treasury Department for 1890, is given to 

 show something of the commercial importance of this commodity and 

 the extent of the use of its preparation in the United States. 



1 Chem. Ztg., 189, 32. 



