Cocoa And Chocolate
The Tree, The Bean The Beverage

110 THE COCOA AND CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY than 1 oz. of essential oil of cocoa. This had an intense flavour, 1 part being detectable in 50,000,000 parts of syrup. It contained a number of esters, but the chief constituent was rf-linalool.1 3. Obtaining Pure Nib. All manufacturers of high grade cocoa and chocolate do their utmost to remove the shell. The problem appears simple, one has merely to break the bean and blow away the shell. Were it possible in breaking to produce large fragments only, the separation would be easy, but the smaller the fragments, the more similarly they behave in a current of air. The usual method of cracking the beans is to run them through rolls. The size of aperture between the rolis is very nicely adjusted, but, as the beans vary slightly in size, while the majority are cracked into conveniently large pieces, a minority are smashed to atoms. Special machines are required. to separate the germ, and usually the cracked beans pass through the germ sieve or separator before going into the winnowing machine which separates the shell. All methods of withdrawing germs depend upon taking advantage of their definite size and distinctive shape ; as occurring in roasted beans they are 0-25 in. long and 0-08 in. wide. They are separated from the mixture either by being caught up in germ-shaped depressions, or by falling through suitable perforations, in a metal cylinder. Practically all shell-separating machines apply the principles of grading and winnowing. Generally they consist of an inclined cylinder made up of sections of metal ganze, each with a different sized mesh. As the 1 Esters are generally volatile liquids and occur as the odoriferous principles of fruits, etc. Linalool, or linalol, is an alcohol which contributes to the fragrance of bergamot and lavender.