2 The Fermentation of Cacao 



process which follows it is removed. Washing 

 the beans enables them to be dried quickly 

 and uniformly, consequently there is no doubt 

 that it is necessary to ferment cacao ; but 

 wide differences of opinion still prevail as to 

 which are the best methods to be employed 

 to do so. 



The excellent quality of Ceylon cacao 

 seemed to justify an examination of the fer- 

 mentation process as carried on there, and 

 after a series of practical tests on both a large 

 and small scale, I have hit upon practical 

 results. For the detailed statements of these 

 results I wish here to express my hearty thanks 

 to Dr. J. C. Willis, Director of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens in Ceylon, for his very kind 

 help. 1 



For practical purposes it is customary to 

 employ many ways to ferment cacao ; these, 

 however, are similar in several points. Some 

 of the methods of preparation in use in the 

 West Indies are mentioned in Hinchley Hart's 

 " Cacao," published in 1892. 



Aublet said in his work, " Plants of Guiana " 

 (1775), concerning the fermentation of Theo- 

 broma giuanensis : "The beans taken from 

 the broken fruit were put with the pulp in a 

 vessel ; this substance after about twenty-four 

 hours' fermentation became liquid and wine- 



1 Since the above was written, Dr. Willis has left 

 Ceylon and taken charge of the important Botanical 

 Gardens at Rio, Brazil. H. H. S. 



