CHAPTEE XVIII 



commercial cocoa, its manttfactube and uses 



Chemical Composition of Cured Cocoa Beans 



We have seen that cocoa is exported from nearly every 

 tropical country on the globe, and the methods employed 

 in cultivating and preparing this product for market have 

 been described. The chemical constituents of cured 

 cocoa beans, from various countries, have been deter- 

 mined by several investigators, and the results obtained 

 are given for comparison. 



Beckurts {Archiv. der Pharm. ccxxxi., pp. 687-694) 

 examined twenty- three trade samples of cocoa beans, 

 and found that the amount of fat in different samples 

 varied from 42 to 57' 4 per cent., the theobromine from 

 •63 to 2-2 per cent., the starch from 7"56to 1653 per cent., 

 and the ash from 2'2 to 3' 75 per cent. 



The average weight of cured cocoa beans, received from 

 different countries, was determined by Ridenour {Amer. 

 Jl. Pharm., April 1895, pp. 207-9) by taking the average 

 weight of 50 beans of each kind. He obtained the under- 

 mentioned figures : 



The results of the chemical examination of these 

 cocoas are given in the table on the next page. 



167 



