Dr, A. Schulte im Hofe 85 



of the air had no opportunity of acting on 

 the beans, and thus a harsh, bitter and 

 astringent cacao was produced. The sun- 

 dried beans contrasted in a marked degree 

 with the latter, and for this reason there was 

 a tendency to assume that the sun-drying 

 method was the best ; a view widely held 

 in other countries also. The beans, obviously, 

 dry far more slowly in the sun than in a 

 Mayfarth dryer for instance, and during the 

 night when the beans no longer undergo the 

 drying process, the oxygen is given an oppor- 

 tunity of acting on the cotyledons. The 

 temperature of the beans is, however, not a 

 favourable one for the process of oxidation, 

 and thus such a cacao still remains bitter to 

 the taste. The conditions are rather more 

 favourable when the beans are sun-dried, as 

 they frequently are, on stone or cement drying 

 floors, as then the beans are thrown together 



o 



in heaps and covered over. 1 By self-heating 2 

 a temperature favourable to oxidation is 

 thereby attained. Over-heating, butyric acid 

 fermentation and the development of moulds 

 are all avoided by the spreading out of the 

 beans in the sun on the following morning. If, 

 in consequence. of rainy weather, or before the 

 beans are fairly dry, they have to be kept 

 for any length of time in heaps, further acidi- 

 fication as well as butyric acid formation takes 



1 As at nights. H. H. S. 



2 When in heaps. H. H. S. 



