xii, a. i Brill: Fermentation of Philippine Cacao 13 



Qfth and sixth days for the defatted cacao show the finest 

 flavored product in the case of the forastero. But the product 

 of this longer fermentation period for forastero does not equal 

 that from criollo in quality. 



The changes brought about by fermentation are hard to de- 

 monstrate by an analysis of the finished cacao. The changes are 

 largely characterized by an improvement in its organoleptic 

 properties. Bainbridge and Davies " believe that an essential 

 oil is produced during fermentation. In their investigation on 

 fermented arriba from Ecuador, they obtained 24 grams of an 

 essential oil from 2,000 kilograms of cacao. Ordinary analytical 

 chemical methods would not suffice for the detection of so minute 

 quantities. The theobromine shows no regular variation. 

 Sack 12 claims that one of the results of fermentation is the 

 splitting of a glucoside with the formation of theobromine and 

 cacao-red. The results obtained in this investigation do not 

 corroborate his conclusions. 



The glucose and sucrose content change with the degree of 

 fermentation, the latter in several cases being zero, while the 

 former first decreases and then shows a slight increase. This 

 increase is due to the action of diastase on the starch. The 

 sugar usually listed as glucose in the analysis of fermented cacao 

 is doubtless largely maltose, the product of the action of dia- 

 stase on starch. The percentage of starch does not undergo a de- 

 cisive change. The apparently smaller amount in C-U and F-U 

 is partly accounted for by the fact that these samples have not 

 lost juices through fermentation. I believe a change has taken 

 place in the character of the starch by the fermentation and that 

 this makes itself apparent in the so-called break of fermented 

 cacao. 



A change in the percentage of astringent matter with length of 

 fermentation is the most apparent change that can be demon- 

 strated by analytical data. The amount decreases with the 

 length of fermentation and accounts for part of the improve- 

 ment in the flavor of the product. The superiority of the 

 criollo over the forastero is apparent when a comparison is made 

 of the quantities of astringent matters present in the two. 



The difference in the cellulose content of the fermented and 

 unfermented samples can be explained by the fact that the 

 former has lost juices by fermentation while the latter still re- 

 tains these. The same explanation holds for the difference in 

 extractive matter. Van Hall 13 states that good cacao should 



u Loc. cit. "Bull Dept. Agr. Surinam, 10. " Loc. cit. 



