Harvested pos are usually collected in one or more convenient places in the field where the cutting of pods to obtain cocoa beans takes place. Sometimes mature fruits are collected in gunny sacks and are ripened for 2 days.
After ripening, the fruits are cut into two section in order to collect the beans (seeds).
Pods can also be opened by the using bamboo sacks to hit the pods until they split into two pieces. The beans are then collected and pile on plastic sheets or places in wooden baskets. The skin of the pods may be buried in the soil or used as animal feed.
The practice of providing an interval of 3 to 4 days between harvesting and opening is recommended for the benefit of fermentation.The fermentation process is mainly aimed at killing the beams so that changes within the beans can take place, such as changes in color, improvement in aroma and flavor, as well as enhancement of the ‘beans’ keeping quality.
During the fermentation process the temperature of cocoa beans increases to about 40 degree Celsius as a result of the exothermic chemical reactions in the pulp that result from the activity of a succession of microorganism.
The pH of the cotyledons drops from 6 to about 5. At 36 to 72 hours after fermentation starts, the beans are “killed” and thereafter many chemical reactions take place inside the beans.
Good fermentation is achieved if the pH of the cotyledons has reached 4.8, the amount of pulp is reduced to 0.16%, and when the ebonies develop a good aroma.
After fermentation process is completed, the pulp can be cleaned by soaking the beans in running water for about 2 to 3 hours.
Curing and Fermentation of Cocoa
