COCOA BY-PRODUCTS 33 
in competition with either of these products; for, on the basis of 
the samples examined, it compares well with the dry-pressed cake 
and is superior to cacao shells in alkaloid content, and its content 
of the objectionable fat is almost negligible. 
It is reasonable to suppose that dissemination of this informa- 
tion may be followed by the advent of a new market outlet for the 
solvent-extracted cocoa residue, through its use as raw material 
in the commercial production of theobromine alkaloid. It may 
therefore be of interest to point out that the cocoa matter remain- 
ing from such utilization, having been freed from both fat and 
alkaloids*, will have attained maximum value as fertilizer material, 
provided no important loss of plant-food constituents has taken 
place during the extraction of the alkaloids. Investigation- of this 
contingency, however, necessarily must wait upon use of the solvent- 
extracted cocoa by the producers of theobromine, because of lack 
of knowledge of the treatment to which the material would be 
subjected in the commercial preparation of the alkaloid. 
CACAO (OR COCOA) SHELLS 
NATURE OF THE BY-PRODUCT 
Raw cacao beans, as imported into the United States, contain 
from 7 to 1G per cent by weight of shell. This refers to clean, 
unclayed beans. The shell content of average tinclayed beans may 
be taken as 12 per cent, and a large part of the cacao imported will 
not show great variation from this figure. Besides the shell ma- 
terial, average cacao beans contain about 0.7 per cent by weight of 
the hard radicle or germ. 
Roasting the beans decreases the weight of shell somewhat, and 
it may be assumed that for every 100 pounds of raw cacao used, 
there are between 10.5 and 11 pounds of roasted shells in the beans 
when they go to the cracking and separating machines. 
After roasting, the shells and nibs are brittle, and it follows that 
a certain amount of fine material (composed of both shell and nib) 
results from the breaking and handling by machinery of the roasted 
beans. Such fine material is known as " dust " or " fines " in this 
country and is usually handled independently of the shells. 31 Com- 
bined with the separated germs, the product is known in England as 
" smalls." 
The relative amounts of shell material, usable nibs, and fines pro- 
duced vary with the kind of beans and the equipment and milling 
practice in the factory. As stated in the general discussion of the 
manipulation of the beans, perfect separation of shells and nibs is 
never attained in factory practice. Under the best conditions, the 
separated nibs may contain as much as 2 per cent of practically in- 
separable shell material, and the shell portion will contain an appre- 
ciable quantity of nib material. 
Reports have been received from cocoa and chocolate manufac- 
turers showing that the quantity of the separated shells portion pro- 
31 This minor by-product in the preparation of the nibs is sometimes pressed for its 
contained fat in this country. United States 1'atent No. 14GT5ST covers a novel process 
for pressing this type of cocoa material (1). 
