Part 5 (2/2)

A simple tray-barrow, which can be run under the house when rain comes on.]

_Loss on Fermenting and Drying._

The fermented cacao is conveyed from the fermentary to the drying trays or floors. The planter often has some rough check-weighing system. Thus, for example, he notes the number of standard baskets of wet cacao put into the fermentary, and he measures the fermented cacao produced with the help of a bottomless barrel. By this means he finds that on fermentation the beans lose weight by the draining away of the ”sweatings,” according to the amount and juiciness of the pulp round them. The beans are still very wet, and on drying lose a high percentage of their moisture by evaporation before the cacao bean of commerce is obtained.

The average losses may be tabulated thus:

Weight of wet cacao from pod 100 Loss on fermentation 20 to 25 Loss on drying 40 -------- Cacao beans of commerce obtained 35 to 40

[Ill.u.s.tration: SPREADING THE CACAO BEANS ON MATS TO DRY IN THE SUN, CEYLON.]

The drying of cacao is an art. On the one hand it is necessary to get the beans quite dry (that is, in a condition in which they hold only their normal amount of water--5 to 7 per cent.) or they will be liable to go mouldy. On the other hand, the husk or sh.e.l.l of the bean must not be allowed to become burned or brittle. Brittle sh.e.l.ls produce waste in packing and handling, and broken sh.e.l.ls allow grubs and mould to enter the beans when the cacao is stored. The method of drying varies in different countries according to the climate. Jose says: ”In the wet season when 'Father Sol' chooses to lie low behind the clouds for days and your cocoa house is full, your curing house full, your trees loaded, then is the time to put on his mettle the energetic and practical planter. In such tight corners, _amigo_, I have known a friend to set a fire under his cocoa house to keep the cocoa on the top somewhat warm. Another friend's plan (and he recommended it) was to address his patron saint on such occasions. He never addressed that saint at other times.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: DRYING TRAYS, GRENADA.

The trays slide on rails. The corrugated iron roofs will slide over the whole to protect from rain.]

In most producing areas sun-drying is preferred, but in countries where much rain falls, artificial dryers are slowly but surely coming into vogue. These vary in pattern from simple heated rooms, with shelves, to vacuum stoves and revolving drums. The sellers of these machines will agree with me when I say that every progressive planter ought to have one of these artificial aids to use during those depressing periods when the rain continually streams from the sky. On fine days it is difficult to prevent mildew appearing on the cacao, but at such times it is impossible. However, whenever available, the sun's heat is preferable, for it encourages a slow and even drying, which lasts over a period of about three days. As Dr. Paul Preuss says: ”II faut eviter une dessiccation trop rapide. Le cacao ne peut etre seche en moins de trois jours.”[5] Further, most observers agree with Dr. Sack that the valuable changes, which occur during fermentation, continue during drying, especially those in which oxygen a.s.sists. The full advantage of these is lost if the temperature used is high enough to kill the enzymes, or if the drying is too rapid, both of which may occur with artificial drying.

[5] Dr. Paul Preuss, _Le cacao. Culture et Preparation_.

Sun-drying is done on cement or brick floors, on coir mats or trays, or on wooden platforms. In order to dry the cacao uniformly it is raked over and over in the sun. It must be tenderly treated, carefully ”watched and caressed,” until the interior becomes quite crisp and in colour a beautiful brown.

Sometimes the platforms are built on the top of the fermentaries, the cacao being conveyed through a hole in the roof of the fermentary to the drying platform.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”HAMEL-SMITH” ROTARY DRYER.

(Made by Messrs. David Bridge and Co., Manchester).

The receiving cylinders, six in number, are filled approximately three-quarters full with the cacao to be dried. These are then placed in position on the revolving framework, which is enclosed in the casing and slowly revolved. The cylinders are fitted with baffle plates, which gently turn over the cacao beans at each revolution so that even drying throughout is the result. The casing is heated to the requisite temperature by means of a special stove, the arrangement of which is such as to allow the air drawn from the outside to circulate around the stove and to pa.s.s into the interior of the casing containing the drying cylinders. The fumes from the fuel do not in any way come in contact with the material during drying.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: DRYING PLATFORMS, TRINIDAD, WITH SLIDING ROOFS.]

In Trinidad the platform always has a sliding roof, which can be pulled over the cacao in the blaze of noon or when a rainstorm comes on. In other places, sliding platforms are used which can be pushed under cover in wet weather.

_The Was.h.i.+ng of Cacao._

In Java, Ceylon and Madagascar before the cacao is dried, it is first washed to remove all traces of pulp. This removal of pulp enables the beans to be more rapidly dried, and is considered almost a necessity in Ceylon, where sun-drying is difficult. The practice appears at first sight wholly good and sanitary, but although beans so treated have a very clean and bright appearance, looking not unlike almonds, the practice cannot be recommended. There is a loss of from 2 to 10 per cent. in weight, which is a disadvantage to the planter, whilst from the manufacturer's point of view, was.h.i.+ng is objectionable because, according to Dr. Paul Preuss, the aroma suffers. Whilst this may be questioned, there is no doubt that was.h.i.+ng renders the sh.e.l.ls more brittle and friable, and less able to bear carriage and handling; and when the sh.e.l.l is broken, the cacao is more liable to attack by grubs and mould. Therein lies the chief danger of was.h.i.+ng.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CACAO DRYING PLATFORMS, SAN THOMe. Three tiers of trays on rails.

(Reproduced by permission from the Imperial Inst.i.tute series of Handbooks to the Commercial Resources of the Tropics).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: WAs.h.i.+NG THE BEANS IN A VAT TO CLEAN OFF THE PULP, CEYLON.]

_Claying, Colouring, and Polis.h.i.+ng Cacao._

[Ill.u.s.tration: CLAYING CACAO BEANS IN TRINIDAD.]

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