78 The Fermentation of Cacao 



of the cultivation and manufacture of tea, I 

 found that here again an oxidation process 

 constituted the essential factor in the conver- 

 sion of the freshly gathered green leaves into 

 black tea. 1 



Studies in Cacao Fermentation in 

 the Cameroons. 



It was, therefore, only natural that when, 

 towards the end of 1899, an opportunity of 

 studying cacao fermentation was afforded me 

 in the Botanical Gardens at Victoria in the 

 Cameroons, I began my researches by seeking 

 to determine whether an oxidation process does 

 not also occur in this case. 2 Even the first 

 experiments confirmed my assumption, and I 

 found that the chemical changes that take 

 place in the cacao beans are precisely similar 

 to those that bring about the conversion of 

 green tea-leaves into black tea. Before enter- 

 ing more fully into the results of my investiga- 



1 Dr. A. Schulte im Hofe : " Die Kultur und Fabri- 

 cation von Tee in Britisch Indien und Ceylon mit 

 Riicksicht auf den wirtschaftlichen Wert der Teekultur 

 fur die deutschen Kolonien." Der Tropenpflanzer, 1901, 

 vol. ii. 



2 In all these experiments I have not attempted to 

 determine whether the oxidation is due to the action 

 of enzymes or not. For, in the first place, this is not 

 essentially important to the process, Secondly, I then 

 had no laboratory at my disposal, for this was only built 

 later in Victoria. I therefore had to limit myself to 

 only the most necessary apparatus and reagents which 

 I had brought with me. 



