210 CACAO 



Examinations made by us of the process of sweating 

 showed clearly that at first an alcoholic fermentation takes 

 place, accompanied by a rise in temperature of the material ; 

 later, a little acetic ether is produced either as a direct 

 product of fermentation or by the interaction of the 

 alcohol and the acetic acid produced, and, finally, the 

 fermentation becomes an acetic one, the temperature in 

 the fermenting boxes gradually rising so high as practically 

 to stop the alcoholic fermentation. 



The results of the examinations and analyses show that 

 the process of fermentation or sweating in cacao consists 

 in an alcoholic fermentation of the sugars in the pulp of 

 the fruit accompanied by a loss of some of the albuminoid 

 and indeterminate nitrogenous constituents of the beans. 

 Probably the albuminoid constituents are first changed 

 into amides and other simpler combinations, which may be 

 further broken up during the process of fermentation. 

 Some parts of the carbohydrates other than sugars undergo 

 hydrolysis, and either escape in the runnings from the boxes 

 in the form of glucose or undergo in turn the alcoholic 

 and acetic fermentations. 



During this change some of the astringent matters to 

 which the somewhat acrid taste of the raw beans is due 

 are also hydrolysed, and thus a marked improvement in 

 flavour is gained. Small quantities of the mineral con- 

 stituents, principally of potash and phosphoric acid, are 

 removed from thevJbeans in the liquid escaping from the 

 fermenting material. A slight loss in woody fibre is shown, 

 which may be due to loss of portions of the cuticle during 

 the operation of drying, or to changes in it by hydrolysis 

 during fermentation. 



This work has necessarily only resulted in a partial and 

 incomplete study of the results of fermentation. The 

 study of the changes which take place in various kinds of 

 beans and during variously modified conditions of fer- 

 mentation must be left to botanists and chemists in colonies 

 and countries where cacao is an important product. Work 

 already done in this line is fully compensated if it leads 



