Development and Performance Evaluation of Cocoa Fermenter

Abstract

Cocoa, Theobroma cacao L, also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae native to the deep tropical regions of Mesoamerica. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolateIt is the main raw material in the production of chocolates, cosmetics, health drinks, pharmaceuticals etc. The cocoa beans which are embedded in a mucilaginous pulp inside the pod consist of two parts- seed coat and seed cotyledon. Seed cotyledon is the material in which characteristic flavor and aroma produced during fermentation. Fermentation of cocoa beans is the first step in the chocolate-making chain. Cocoa bean fermentation is most crucial step which decides further quality of cocoa products. Microbial fermentation of cocoa removes mucilage and induces a set of internal biochemical reactions in the cotyledon that lead to modification of the chemical composition of cocoa beans and the formation of aromatic precursors. The temperature range of 45-500C is inevitable for effectiveness of fermentation, which is a major constraint during rainy season. In order to overcome this problem a ‘cocoa fermenter’ was developed which helped in building up a temperature suitable for fermentation. The cocoa fermenter consists of fermentation chamber, handle, UCP bearing and frame assembly. The cocoa beans (12.3 Kg) were fed into the fermenter through the top portion of fermentation chamber by removing top cover, beans were filled up to 3⁄4thof thecapacityof fermenter. After closing the chamber the fermenter was then kept idle for one day to drain the sweating through bottom side. Using the rotating handle the chamber is rotated at 3 rd and and 5 th day so that cocoa beans were mixed properly, for equal distribution of heat to all cocoa beans and for proper fermentation cocoa. The fermentation period took about 7 days. At the final day fermented cocoa beans were taken out and dried. Performance of the machine was evaluated by quality of fermentation. Quality analyses of the fermented dried cocoa beans were done based on moisture content (7.6%), free fatty acid (2.1%), fat (47.16%) and polyphenols (7.6%). The results of the quality parameters of cocoa beans fermented using cocoa fermenter when compared with the standard values of traditional methods were relatively same and the free fatty acid content variation can be corrected by altering the number of days of fermentation and change the material of construction.