Edible Products. 



248 



[March, 1909. 



neutral bean to the tune of 30,000,000 lb. 

 this year, and our total Colonial output 

 amounts at least to 100,000,000 lb. during 

 an average year's crop. Against this 

 the total consumption in the United 

 Kingdom for 1907 was only 44,500,000 lb. 

 ( = 19,842 tons) raw cacao. Another 

 question that we hoped to extract infor- 

 mation upon was, why San Thome 

 insists on using labour that at present 

 costs, according to Mr. Nevinson. from 

 £35 to £40 per head— a labour unwilling 

 and home sick, and therefore very in- 

 different whilst alive, and which appa- 

 rently takes the first opportunity that 

 presents itself to die ? It cannot al- 

 together be the climate. Can it be that 

 the treatment is not so rosy in reality 

 throughout the Island as a whole as it is 

 reported to be, in one or two cases, on 

 paper? Whatever the reason is, it must 

 be a very strong one. What it is we 

 went to the meeting to find out, but 

 were unable to do so. So we lost much 

 time that we could ill-afford, but worse 

 still, we consider the cause got two nasty 

 knocks that will take it sometime to get 

 over. If only the conveners of this 

 meeting had left Mr. William Cadbury 

 and Mr. Joseph Burtt to fight the battle 

 alone, this would not have happened. 

 Everybody at the meeting agreed that 

 these two are strong fighters with right 

 and might (in the shape of the trade 

 boycott) on their side, and this being so 

 what better champions could the cause 

 wish for? Why call public meetings, 

 and run the risk of making our oppo- 

 nents ' weapons still more formidable 

 than they are at present.— Tropical Life, 

 Vol. IV., No. 12, December, 1908. 



THE FERMENTATION OP COFFEE. 

 (By Oscar Loew, Physiologist.) 



The so-called fermentation of coffee 

 has thus far not been investigated, and 

 ha9 been defined sometimes as an 

 " alcoholic fermentation necessary to 

 remove the saccharine matter."* " Such 

 saccharine matter, however, should be 

 easily removable by simply washing 

 with water. Upon close examination 

 the writer concluded that the aim of 

 the "fermentation" is the removal of a 

 slimy stratum firmly adhering to the 

 parchment envelope of the seeds. The 

 removal of this is necessary because the 

 drying of the seed envelope would other- 

 wise be very much retarded, and because 

 a bad flavour may finally be imparted to 

 the seeds by the partial decay of the 

 slimy stratum during the drying process. 



* Cf. Watt. Dictionary of the Economic Products 

 Of India. Calcutta, 1899, vol. 2, p. 476. 



The process will be explained by examin- 

 ing the anatomical structure of the 

 fruit. 



Just below the skin of the fruit and 

 extending between the enveloped seeds 

 is a fibrous tissue containing sweet juice. 

 This pulp, together with the skin, is 

 easily separated by mechanical means 

 from the seeds, which are enveloped in a 

 hard parchment. Adhering to this parch- 

 ment is a stratum of very slimy cells, the 

 slime layer. 



The preparation of coffee for market 

 requires the following manipulations : — 



(1) Pulping to secure removal of the 

 skin with the adhering tissue. 



(2) Fermentation to separate the slimy 

 layer from the parchment envelope. 



(3) Washing away the loosened slime. 



(4) Drying the envelope around the 

 seeds, preparing for the necessary brittle- 

 ness for the next operation. 



(5) Hulling or milling, consisting in 

 the removal of the parchment envelope, 

 with subsequent subjection to a fan to 

 blow away particles of parchment 

 envelope and silver skin. 



The entire fruit is often called "cherry" 

 from the similarity of form and colour. 

 The expression " pulped coffee" signifies 

 seeds in the parchment envelope with 

 slimy layer. "Coffee in parchment" 

 means the product after pulping, fer- 

 menting, and drying. The " bean" 

 means the seeds deprived of parchment 

 and silver skin. 



Fruits of red or yellow colour should be 

 picked for pulping, as only such furnish 

 seeds of the desired bluish-green colour. 

 Green unripened fruit containing a hard 

 pulp and little or no sugar should be 

 excluded, but such fruit cannot be 

 entirely avoided since some unripened 

 seeds will drop off in gathering the 

 ripened ones. 



The fruits are well moistened with 

 water when passing through the pulper, 

 which easily separates the skin and 

 fibrous layer. Attached to the pulper is 

 a conical sieve (separator) placed in a 

 horizontal position, which retains the 

 fruits which have accidentally escaped 

 pulping, and they are carried back to 

 the pulper.* 



* It has been proposed to dry the pulp and 

 bring it into commerce as a cheap substitute for 

 coffee. When pressed well to remove the caffein 

 and mixed then with molasses it might serve as a 

 food for hogs. Greshoff holds that the best appli- 

 cation is as a manure and gives the following 

 composition in the air-dry state : Caffein, 1-1 ; 

 carbohydrates, 23-3; albumin, 7*6; cellulose, 16*1 ; 

 water 8 14-9 ; fat, 3'3 3 ash, 69. 



