Dr. J. Sack 151 
During the distillation the laboratory and 
the entire surroundings were pervaded by a 
strong smell of cacao. The yield was extremely 
small, and it may be estimated that 20 kilos 
of cacao will produce 1 c.c. of cacao oil. This 
experiment at the same time made it quite 
clear why the old method, by which the drying 
was done slowly, yielded a product which far 
surpassed in quality the cacao that was rapidly 
dried, for with a slow process of drying the 
reactions will continue for some considerable 
time. With rapid drying they will speedily cease. 
The above may be summed up as follows :— 
With sweating the beans, an alcoholic fer- 
mentation in the pulp first takes place through 
the agency of ferment fungi, whereby the sugar 
contained in the pulp is split into alcohol and 
carbonic acid; the alcohol with the addition 
of oxygen is further oxydized into acetic acid, 
which causes a strong rise of temperature. 
This is the external fermentation. This causes 
the temperature to rise to about 45° C., when 
the seeds or beans enclosed in the pulp are 
killed. After this has taken place, the sub- 
stances within the bean itself commence work- 
ing upon each other. This is the internal 
fermentation. Subject to the influence of an 
enzyme present, the cacaonine is split into 
cacao-red, theobromine and dextrose, while at 
the same time an etherial oil is formed. 
Moreover with the fermentation the useless 
sugar-containing pulp, which is so detrimental 
to the keeping of the cacao, disappears. 
