From Harvest to Flavor: The Cocoa Bean Fermentation Process

The harvesting process begins when the ripe cocoa pods are carefully cut from the trees using long-handled knives. These pods, which house the cocoa seeds or beans, are typically split open by hand or with machetes to extract the seeds and pulp. The beans, embedded in a sweet, white mucilaginous pulp, are then placed in heaps, boxes, or baskets and covered, initiating the fermentation process. Fermentation is crucial because it plays a significant role in the development of the beans' flavor profile.

The fermentation process usually lasts between five to seven days, during which time the pulp breaks down, releasing heat and causing the temperature of the mass to rise. This rise in temperature is essential for killing the seed's viability, ensuring that it does not germinate. As the beans ferment, enzymes within them are activated, starting a series of chemical reactions. These reactions are responsible for transforming the flavor precursors, contributing to the eventual rich, chocolatey taste. The breakdown of the pulp during fermentation also facilitates the cleaning and separation of the beans from the sticky mucilage.

The quality of the fermentation process significantly influences the final flavor and color of the cocoa beans. Poorly fermented beans can result in off-flavors or inferior color, while well-fermented beans develop a deeper, more complex flavor, which is essential for high-quality chocolate. After fermentation, the beans are still wet and must undergo drying. This drying process, also known as curing, helps to reduce the moisture content to a suitable level for storage and shipping, usually between 6-8%.

As the beans dry, they change from a pale color to the more recognizable brown shade, indicating that they are ready for the next stages of production. The outer shell, which accounts for about 14% of the bean, must be removed to access the valuable nibs, the part of the bean used to produce chocolate.
From Harvest to Flavor: The Cocoa Bean Fermentation Process

Cocoa pulp

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) belongs to the Malvaceae family, a species native to South and Central America.

Cocoa pulp, the white mucilage that surrounds cocoa beans, is the main substrate in cocoa bean fermentation and is rich in macro- and micronutrients.

Studies indicated that the average yield of pulp which can be extracted from one ton of beans is 154 liters. The pulp was approximately 15 - 18% of the wet bean and 25 - 30% of the total pulp weight.

The cocoa pulp is a substrate rich in nutrients, which can be used in industrial processes for by-product manufacture. Cocoa pulp mainly consists of water, sugars, acids, and pectin. Sugars in cocoa pulp are mainly sucrose, fructose, and glucose. Pectin, which gives cocoa pulp a thick consistency, presents at approximately 1% on fresh weight basis.

Citrate is the major organic acids, which inversely affected the pH of cocoa pulp. Other nonvolatile organic acids such as malic, tartaric, and oxalic acids are less than 0.1% in cocoa pulp.

Fermentation produces pulp liquid as much as 12-17% by weight of cocoa beans. Pulp liquid as a by-product during the fermentation of cocoa beans contains acetic acid, lactic acid, alcohol and sugar. Organic acids are formed from the fermentation of sugars contained in the pulp of cocoa beans.
Cocoa pulp

Fermentation of cocoa beans

The beans embedded in mucilaginous pulp are removed from the fruit pods and subjected to microbial fermentation as the first stage in the preparation of chocolate.

Cocoa bean fermentation is still a spontaneous curing process to facilitate drying of nongerminating cocoa beans by pulp removal as well as to stimulate colour and flavour development of fermented dry cocoa beans. The fermentation of cocoa relies on a complex succession of bacteria and filamentous fungi, all of which can have an impact on cocoa flavor.

During cocoa bean fermentation, the role of micro-organisms is limited to removal ofthe pulp that surrounds the fresh beans and the production of indispensable metabolites. The former includes pectin depolymerisation by yeasts. The latter encompasses anaerobic yeast fermentation of sugars to ethanol, microaerophilic fermentation of sugars and citric acid to lactic acid, acetic acid and mannitol bylactic acid bacteria (LAB), and aerobic exothermicbioconversion of ethanol into acetic acid by acetic acidbacteria (AAB). These microbial activities result in the death of the bean due to penetration of mainly ethanol and acetic acid through the husk into the cotyledons.

These biochemical changes inside the beans contribute to the reduction of bitterness and astringency and the development of flavor precursors.

Cocoa flavour precursors are developed during fermentation and drying of cocoa beans. Polyphenols and alkaloids contribute to astringency and bitterness of cocoa and chocolate.

Cocoa beans are mainly fermented in heaps enveloped in plantain leaves or in wooden trays. Yeasts dominate at the beginning, and up to 24 h of fermentation.

Their most important roles are to break down the citric acid in the pulp, which leads to an increase in pH; to produce ethanol and organic acids, which kill the bean cotyledons to produce volatile organic compounds that contribute to precursors of chocolate flavor; and to secrete pectinases, which reduce the viscosity of the pulp and allow aeration of the pulp mass.

Fermentation has several purposes:
*it facilitates removal of the viscous pulp around the beans and their subsequent drying;
*it contributes to colour and flavour development of the nongerminating cocoa beans, as it avoids embryonic growth and activates hydrolytic bean enzymes, enabling the expression of the flavour potential of the cocoa beans genetically and enzymatically
*it reduces bitterness and astringency, in particular by exchange of compounds through diffusion between the cocoa bean cotyledons and the environment.

Fermentation of cocoa beans

Sugar content in cocoa during fermentation

The cocoa or coca bean is the source of chocolate. Cocoa differs from chocolate in fat and sugar content. Soluble carbohydrates present include stachyose, raffinose, and sucrose, glucose and fructose.

In unfermented seeds, sucrose comprises about 90% of the total sugars. Fructose plus glucose make up only about 6%. During fermentation sucrose decreases, where as fructose and glucose increased after the death of the beans.

The final content of these sugars varies considerably in fermented beans of various origins, most likely owing to the type and the extent of curing. Increasing fermentation time decreased the concentrations of the fermentable sugars (reducing sugars) in the pulp at all pod storage period.

Sucrose hydrolysis, which occurs during fermentation of the beans, provides the reducing sugar pool important for aroma formation during the roasting process.

Sucrose content in well-fermented raw cocoa is near zero but fructose and glucose increase up to about 0.6%. The pulp is not only viscous due to its sugar content but also due to a relatively high content of pectin and other polysaccharides.
Sugar content in cocoa during fermentation

Curing and Fermentation of Cocoa

Curing and Fermentation of Cocoa
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

Fermentation: Chemical Changes in Pulp

Fermentation: Chemical Changes in Pulp
In the process of fermentation the heaps or boxes, the pulp adhering to the beans provides a medium at the correct temperature and pH, not only to liquefy the pulp, but to create the reactions within the cotyledon so vital to the production of good chocolate flavors.

The pulp is composed of approximately 85% of water and 11 percent sugars with small amounts of citric acid, pentosans and proteins.

During the first two days of fermentation, the sugars are broken down to about 2 percent, forming small amounts of ethyl alcohol and lactic acid and the temperature rises to about 45 degree C.

For the remaining period of fermentation, the temperature is maintained between 45 and 50 degree C and the quantity of beans must be sufficient to avoid heat loss. The pH rises from 3.5 initially to 4.5 then to 5.0, and the presence of oxygen during turning results in the formation of acetic acid.

The cotyledons absorb some of the acetic acid, and they also attain a pH of about 5.0.

If fermentation is extended beyond five or six days, spoilage organisms take over, with a detrimental effect on the final flavor of the beans, residual acidity due to acetic acid is a problem with beans from some sources, such as Malaysia and New Guinea.
Fermentation: Chemical Changes in Pulp

Fermentation and Drying Process

Fermentation and Drying Process
The correct fermentation and drying process of cacao are of vital importance as no subsequent processing of the bean will correct bad practice at this stage.

A good flavor in the final cocoa or chocolate is related closely to good fermentation, but if the drying after fermentation is retarded, molds develop and these also impart very unpleasant flavors even if fermentation has been carried out correctly.

The chemical processes involved are not entirely fermenting reactions and the changes that occur in the combined processes of fermentation and drying are sometimes referred to as curing.

After the pods are cut form the trees, the beans with the adhering pulp are removed and transferred to heaps boxes or baskets for fermentation to take place.

Small farmers tend to use the heap method whereas the box method is employed in larger plantations, and is also used on a smaller scale in South America and the West Indies. In Nigeria a basket method has been used, with the baskets lined with leaves.

Fermentation lasts from five to six days. Forastero beans take rather longer than Criollo and during the first day, the adhering pulp becomes liquid and drains away, with the temperature rising steadily.

By the third day, the mass of beans will have fairly evenly heated to 45 degree C and will remain between this temperature and about 50 degree C until fermentation is complete.
Fermentation and Drying Process

Chocolate as an Aphrodisiac

Chocolate as an Aphrodisiac
We've all heard that chocolate, derived from the cacao bean and prized by Meso-American peoples, is also an aphrodisiac. However, to many of us, that claim seems suspect. Can eating chocolate really help you get in the mood? Here are some basic facts about chocolate to tell you whether its reputation as an aphrodisiac is just fluff, or the real thing.

Chocolate refers to raw and processed foods that come from cacao seeds. This tree is native to tropical South America, and has been cultivated for more than three thousand years. It is earliest documented use is around 1100 BCE. The Maya and Aztecs are most famous for using chocolate, but it was made into drinks by most peoples in Meso-America. The seeds are intensely bitter, and have to undergo fermentation to develop the flavor we think of as chocolate.

After they've been fermented, these beans are cleaned and dried, then roasted. The shell is removed, producing cacao nibs, which are then ground and liquefied. This produces pure liquid chocolate in the form of chocolate liquor. This is usually then processed into cocoa butter and cocoa solids. Completely unsweetened chocolate contains a variable percentage of cocoa solids and cocoa butter, depending on the type. However, most of us consume sweetened chocolate, combined with sugar.

There are a number of different types of delicious sweet chocolate. Milk chocolate adds condensed milk or milk powder into the confection. White chocolate also uses milk, sugar and cocoa butter, but there are no cocoa solids in it. That's why it's not usually considered a true chocolate. Real dark chocolate does not contain any milk at all.

There are alkaloids in chocolate - most notably phenethylamine and theobromine, both of which can have effects on human beings, and which are toxic to some animals such as dogs. These chemicals found in chocolate have been linked to levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is one of the chemicals linked with pleasure and good feelings in humans when stimulated.

There are also chemicals called unsaturated N-acylethanolamines in chocolate. They can result in euphoria and heightened sensitivity. However, the amounts of all these chemicals in a typical amount of chocolate are fairly small, so its real aphrodisiac affect probably comes from the fact that eating it is such a sensual pleasure.

It's fatty, sweet and delicious, which is why so many of us love it. There's no firm proof that chocolate can work as an aphrodisiac, but we often give this wonderful treat to someone we love, and almost everyone appreciates it. So, whether it's chemically an aphrodisiac or not, there are still excellent reasons to give chocolate.

Everyone is different and responds to things in their own way. We each need a certain level of anything to react with our own personal body chemistry. You will want to experiment to find your own answer to this question. The nice thing about this experiment is that chocolate is delicious and if you are right there is a bonus.
Chocolate as an Aphrodisiac
About author:
Chris enjoys writing about all kinds of food especially chocolates. For more information on finest gourmet chocolates visit http://www.ultimatechocolateshoppe.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Alleny

From raw cocoa to cocoa flavor

From raw cocoa to cocoa flavor
Raw cocoa nibs do not posses the distinctive aroma and flavor of cocoa, this being developed only as a result of the fermentation and roasting processes. Both of these have been shown to be necessary for the production of the characteristics profile. The optimum conditions necessary to produce a high quality product are still a matter of expert judgment.

There are 3 stages or process to convert into flavor
Fermentation

Drying

Roasting

Fermentation, during which the flavor precursors are formed. The proteins present in the nibs are degraded and the level of free amino acids rises: sucrose is inverted to fructose and glucose which in turn are oxidized to alcohol and various acids; some theobromine and tannins are lost

Drying, during which the moisture content is reduced to about 8% with a loss of volatile acids and a consequent rise in PH.

Roasting, during which the precursors are converted into aromatic compounds, the qualitative and quantitative nature of which determines the characteristics profile of the roasted beans.

Cocoa beans are the source of three other important materials;
Cocoa butter: a mixture of glycerides which are present from 52-56% in the nib.

Theobromine: an alkaloid related to caffeine but having very little stimulant effect

Cacao purple: an astringent coloring matter formed in the fermenting bean.
From raw cocoa to cocoa flavor