Dr. Oscar Loew 37 



astringent matters, to which the somewhat 

 acrid taste of the raw beans is due, are also 

 hydrolyzed, and thus a marked improvement 

 in flavour is gained." Finally he adds : " This 

 work has necessarily only resulted in a partial 

 and incomplete study of the results of the 

 fermentation." 



The so-called fermentation is carried out 

 either by heaping the fresh seeds, after 

 separating them from the shell, on the floor, 

 or placing them in receptacles and covering 

 them with banana leaves or with cloth. The 

 floor or the receptacles slope so that the 

 watery products can escape during the fer- 

 mentation. A period of two to six days, 

 according to circumstances, is usually allowed 

 for fermentation. The height of the heaped 

 seed measures i to 1*5 metres and over. In 

 some countries the highest temperature allowed 

 for fermentation is 45 C., in others 50 C. 

 According to Hart 1 there is " danger in 

 allowing [the temperature] to rise above 

 140 F. [60 C.], 2 as the character of the 

 product is sure to suffer." An apparatus 

 has been recently devised by M. Schulte in 

 which a constant temperature of 60 C. is 

 maintained. 3 In this case the yeast is fully 

 excluded and bacteria with few exceptions 



1 " Cacao." Trinidad, 1900, 2nd. ed., p. 42. 



2 Note, p. 248, that Nicholls says 110 to 120 F. is 

 the optimum temperature. 



3 See Dr. Schulte im Hofe's essay, p. 95, et seq. 



