Cocoa And Chocolate
The Tree, The Bean The Beverage

’S g?: F K Ei £ ff: .*? i;< £ i | irz -f-S’ «$ 56 THE COCOA AND CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY Yeast cells are nearly always present in the air, and are to be found in quantity in and near places where fermentation is carried on. There is not yet agreement as to the particular yeast which is mainly responsible for cacao fermentation. Beer and wine yeasts have been found, as well as the wild yeasts occurring on the outside of fruits, etc. While Chittenden mentions Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Preyer names a special yeast, Saccharomyces theobromae ; Loew says it is Saccharomyces ellipsoideus, and Davies states that Saccharomyces apiculatus is found in the early stages of fermentation. Probably in different countries different yeasts occur. Possibly, in the near future, some enterprising firm will prepare for sale to the planters a suitable culture of yeast as a “ starter,” and save the planters 24 hours on every fermentation ; or Nicholls’ scheme will be adopted and the local Department of Agriculture supply a culture. Some scientists would wish the planters not merely to add, but to maintain, a pure culture. They have yet to prove, however, that there are practical advantages in this refinement. One cannot obtain a perfectly pure culture on the fermenting beans unless the beans are first sterilised to destroy adventitious organisms, and Sterilisation is more than likely to destroy the wonderfui substance called. an oxidase, which, as will be shown later, plays an important part in the changes in the inferior of the beans. Fermentation of the Pulp on the Outside of the Bean. If the planter were to pack the pulp-covered beans Straight from the pod in bags and send them wet and juicy to market, they would rapidly decompose and become mouldy. He must make them stable and pre-vent them “ going bad,” and the first method he would naturally try, to obtain this condition, would be to dry