NOV. 1906. J 



385 



Edible Products, 



favour of the fermenting method introduced by the Government Botanic Depart- 

 ment. " The beans are now placed in heaps upon mats and then covered up with 

 mats weighed down with stones, and left for four days if this takes place upon the 

 same day the pods are plucked, but for three days if upon the following day ; after 

 which they are washed in baskets." 



Various fermentation experiments have been made with the purple and 

 bitter seeds of varieties cultivated in Cameroon, and reports have been issued which 

 are, to a certain extent, somewhat contradictory. One authority,* however, asserts 

 that by fermenting the seeds iu a particular manner it is possible to almost entirely 

 remove the bitter unpleasant taste so frequent in purple seeds fermented in the 

 ordinary manner. 



LENGTH OP FERMENTATION. 



Though this process is considered to be of vital importance in the production 

 of good kinds of cacao, there is a very conspicuous variation in the time allowed for 

 fermentation, and most people calculate when fermentation is complete by the appear- 

 ance of the material to the naked eye and the odour of the mass of seeds. Cacao 

 is sometimes only fermented for two days, at other times the changes are allowed 

 to continue for twelve or even more days, and in all cases cacao of good quality is 

 apparently produced. It may, however, be considered safe to state that those varie- 

 ties having thin integuments and white cotyledons require the minimum time, and 

 those with thicker integuments and purple cotyledons the maximum ; to the former 

 class belong the Caracas, Nicaragua, and some forms of Forastero, and to the latter 

 the Calabacillo, Amelonado, and inferior kinds of Forastero. 



The length of time required can only be determined by practice, as the 

 chemical and physical characters of the seeds of the same variety vary according to 

 the plant, its diseases, and to some extent climatic conditions. It is asserted by 

 some that the pulp which surrounds the seeds contains, in Java, more water during 

 the west monsoon than in the east monsoon, and that in wet weather the fermenta- 

 tion takes place more rapidly. The time required for fermentation will also vary 

 according to the method employed, the market for which the cacao is prepared, and 

 the quantity being fermented. Large quantities of cacao ferment quicker than 

 small quantities, and due allowance must be made for this. 



In parts of Java the cacao is allowed to ferment two nights and sometimes 

 even only one night on account of the condition of the seeds from diseased specimens. 

 Af oer a night of fermentation the seeds from diseased specimens may germinate and 

 produce cacao which is for the most part broken, very light, and of bad quality. 

 Usually healthy cacao is allowed to ferment three days. 



In Java the Criollo does not usually require to be fermented more than four 

 da ys. The Criollo or Caracas type in Ceylon and Trinidad does not usually require 

 more than two days, though it is often fermented for five ; the Forastero a day longer, 

 and the Amelonado four or five days. Preuss states that the finest and sweetest cacao 

 requires twenty-four hours and the bitter kinds six to eight days. Fermentation is 

 considered complete when on cutting a seed transversely one notices that the cotyl- 

 edons have separated and the sugary liquid occupies the spaces within the seed. On 

 drying, the beans may be brown in colour and sweet to the taste or purple and bitter 

 to the taste, the former being the desired characteristics on most European 

 markets. 



( To be continued, ) 



* Zur Kukas — Fermentation, by Dr. A. Sehultc im Hofe, Dor Tropenflanzer, May, 1901. 



