Cocoa And Chocolate
The Tree, The Bean The Beverage

HARVESTING AND PREPARATION FOR MARKET 57 the beans. He would then discover that dried pulp has an unfortunate tendency to absorb moisture from the air and become soft and sticky, in which condition it easily becomes mouldy. It happens, however, that when cacao beans are put in a heap and kept warm they ferment, whether one desires it or not, and it was probably quite accidentally discovered that after fermentation the pulp is diminished in amount and changed in character, and consequently the beans are more rapidly dried, and more easily arrive at a stable state. At the same time it must be admitted that by simple drying in the sun, as is done in a few countries where the more primitive methods exist, a moderately stable product can be produced, but this dried and unfermented cacao cannot be sold at so high a price as the fermented article from the same country, the majority of cocoa and chocolate manufacturers pre-ferring fermented to unfermented cacao. In some countries the “ wet ” cacao, i.e. the pulp-covered beans fresh from the pod, is simply put in heaps ; in others it is put in boxes fitted with more or less simple arrangements for allowing the liquid which drains from the pulp to run away. The mucilaginous envelope round the beans gradually loses its structure and its glutinous nature, and becomes, when the fermentation is completed, a very thin coat of paste which readily dries on to the outer shell of the bean. In order to obtain a good fermentation, the planter finds that it is advisable to retain the heat as far as possible, to allow the liquid produced from the pulp to drain away, and to let air have access to the beans. Any arrangement for fermenting cacao which satisfies these conditions will give a good product. Cleanliness is essential, as otherwise unusual fermentations and decompositions may take place with the production of