52 The Fermentation of Cacao 



as well as the soft layer of the fruit shell. 

 Later, in the testa and the seed generally, as 

 well as in the slime tissue covering the testa, 

 a reddish colouration was produced, but only a 

 weak one. This peroxidase reaction agrees 

 also with that just mentioned, in so far as the 

 slime tissue gave only an exceptionally weak 

 reaction compared with all other parts of the 

 fruit. The slime tissue of the coffee fruit is 

 also poorer in oxidase and peroxidase than the 

 other tissues. . 



The further generation of the characteristic 

 aroma of cacao is of great importance. Is 

 this process due to the action of an oxidizing 

 enzyme or to that of a hydrolizing enzyme, and 

 does the fermentation influence the generation 

 of aroma only indirectly by the development 

 of heat or directly by furnishing some com- 

 pound ? Or, is the roasting of the fermented 

 cacao beans alone responsible for the aroma ? 

 The investigations thus far made do not solve 

 this problem satisfactorily. It may be men- 

 tioned, however, that Hart 1 agrees with Chit- 

 tenden, 2 who declared that after a certain stage 

 of the fermentation " the cotyledons are found 

 separated and the vinous liquor of the pulp, 

 which passes through the membranous cover- 

 ing, occupies this space as well as the cavities 

 between the convolutions. . . . This it is 

 which has so marked a physiological influence 



1 "Cacao." Trinidad, 1900, 2nd ed., p. 38. 



2 Agv. Record. Trinidad, 2nd ed. (1890), p. no. 



