Dr. Oscar Loew 35 



lion appears to be to change the inside portion 

 of the bean by absorbing into it products 

 obtained from the fermenting pulp, and where 

 this is not fully accomplished by any of the 

 methods the bean is classed as unfermented, 

 and the product is generally of lower value." 



The changes brought about by the fermenta- 

 tion have been minutely examined by Prof. 

 Harrison, the well-known chemist and Direc- 

 tor of Agriculture in British Guiana. Some 

 of the changes observed, as, for example, the 

 decrease of protein in the seed and the increase 

 of amido compounds, are only incidental and 

 not of any importance, since they do not affect 

 the colour, which is simply due to the action 

 of an oxidizing enzyme in the seed. 



The principal conclusions reached by. 

 Harrison 1 are that the process of " fermenta- 

 tion or sweating in cacao consists in an 



o 



alcoholic fermentation of the sugars in the 



o 



pulp of the fruit accompanied by a loss of some 

 of the albuminoid and indeterminate nitro- 

 genous constituents of the beans, . . . and 

 some parts of the carbohydrates other than 

 sugars undergo hydrolysis and either escape 

 in the runnings from the boxes in the form 

 of glucose, or undergo in turn the alcoholic 

 and acetic fermentations." Further he de- 

 clares : " During this change some of the 



1 Proc. Agv. Soc. Trinidad, 2 (1896-97), p. 250; Hart, 

 41 Cacao." Trinidad, 1900, 2nd ed., pp. 106, 107. 



