234 The Fermentation of Cacao 



as the reduction of sugar. It must be re- 

 membered that many germinating seeds possess 

 enzymes, whose actions are to reduce sub- 

 stances to a more assimilable condition for the 

 nourishment of the young plant. The action 

 of these can probably be excluded in ferment- 

 ing cacao, and the enzymes present in the 

 interior of the beans have diffused in from the 

 exterior fermenting matter. 



It is the penetration of exterior enzymes 

 and the general diffusion of the products of 

 fermentation which bring about the changes 

 in the interior of the bean. Now there are 

 water, sugars, salts, alcohol, acetic acid, tar'aric 

 acid, enzymes, carbon dioxide and other diffusi- 

 ble and soluble substances passing in and out 

 of the skin of the bean, which has become a 

 diffusion membrane under fermentation. 



From this, some of the changes which occur 

 are obvious and can at once be demonstrated by 

 analysis, other changes are brought about by 

 the temperature reached by the fermenting mass. 



Physical Changes which are brought about in 

 the Beans by Fermentation. 



If beans which have been fermented and 

 dried are compared with uncured beans many 

 differences are apparent : the former appear 

 more rounded and plumped up and of a dark 

 brown colour ; this is due to the formation 

 within the kernel of carbonic acid and volatile 

 substances such as alcohol, which tend to 

 disintegrate the various portions of the bean 



