EFFECT OF ALKALI TREATMENT ON COCOAS. 19 
16, combines to some extent the action of each, inasmuch as the total 
soluble matter is high and the soluble protein is high. The ash- and 
protein-free solids are, however, rather low, as compared with those 
in which sodium carbonate alone was used, thus seeming to indicate 
that potassium carbonate has an inhibitory action on the solution 
of these solids. Sample 50, in which magnesium carbonate was used, 
shows the lowest total water-soluble matter. This is partly due to 
the fact that no soluble alkali is added, as the ash-free solid matter 
is nearer to the average of the cocoas. 
There seems to be no definite relation between the amounts of 
water-soluble protem insoluble in 1 per cent sulphuric acid and 
the alkali used. This figure varies somewhat with the percentage of 
alkal, although by no means in proportion. The color value of the 
solution also shows a very wide range, and seemingly follows no defi- 
nite rule, except that the use of sodium carbonate gives the highest 
values. 
It is interesting to note that three of the four imported cocoas show 
a total soluble matter and an ash-free soluble matter greater than the 
maximum of the domestic treated cocoa, and two of them show a 
ereater ash- and protein-free soluble matter; also three show a higher 
-percentage of soluble proteim than the maximum of the domestic 
products, and all four show a higher color value than the maximum. 
With one exception, the total ash of these products is not appreciably 
oreater than that of the domestic products, and the ash of the water- 
soluble matter falls well within the limits of the domestic products. 
This indicates that the increase in the other constituents is not the 
result of the addition of a larger amount of an alkali, such as sodium 
_ carbonate, but that the difference lies largely in the treatment which 
|} the cocoa undergoes. 
APPEARANCE OF THE COCOAS. 
The color of the dry cocoa in the samples examined varied widely, 
from a light brown to a deep reddish purple. Some of the untreated 
cocoas had a color nearly as pronounced as those that were treated. 
This color is not necessarily the result of any blend of beans, but 
depends largely on the treatment, especially the degree and rapidity 
_ of heating and cooling which the cocoa undergoes in its manufacture. 
s} The color of the dry cocoa seems to have but little connection with 
the color of the water solution. For instance, sample 27, a cocoa 
_ treated by a fermentation process, is among the darkest in the dry 
i) State, but the water solution of this is of a very light straw color, as 
i) may be noted by the fact that the color value of a 4 per cent solution 
' in a }-inch cell was only 8.8. This is the most striking example of 
| the fact that the color of the dry cocoa and that of the water solution 
| bear little or no relation to each other. The same thing was noted, 
| 4 
1 
