230 The Fermentation of Cacao 
Chemistry of Cacao. 
I shall confine myself principally to that 
chemistry which is concerned with the fermen- 
tation of cacao. 
Many analyses of wet cacao have been made 
by Harrison, Bamber, Silva, and others, and 
of cured cacao by Zipperer, Muter, and 
Wanklyn; the most noticeable point of their 
tables is the extreme variations. Thus cacao 
butter varies from below 4o per cent. to above 
.50 per cent., and all the other constituents 
vary to much the same extent. The causes 
of this are various, depending upon the variety 
to be treated, the locality in which it is 
grown, its cultivation, the nature of the season 
(whether it has been wet or dry), the amount 
of fermentation that has taken place, and the 
degree of moisture present. 
Some of these factors are irremediable even 
if it is desirable to produce a uniform cacao for 
the markets. 
Fermentation takes place to its greatest 
extent in relation to the saccharine pulp which 
is adherent to and surrounds the testa of the 
seeds, I have analysed a number of samples 
of this obtained by straining fresh beans 
through muslin ; they varied to a considerable 
degree in composition. 
I have, therefore, given three columns: the 
first is the minimum, ‘the next is the maximum, 
and the third the round figures which for 
practical purposes can be taken as_ the 
averages :— 
