COCOA (Theobroma cocoa)

The cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao) is a native

of the dense tropical forests of the Amazon
where it grows in conditions of semishade,
warmth, and high humidity.

• To be called chocolate, a product must contain cocoa.
• The cocoa or cacao tree (Theobroma cacao, L.) originated in South and
Central America, but is now grown commercially in suitable environments
between 20° north and 20° south.
• These areas have a high average temperature (≥27℃) throughout the year
and a constant high humidity, arising from a plentiful rainfall (1 500-25 000
mm).
• The soil should be deep and rich and well drained and normally be less
than 700 m above sea level, as strong winds will damage the crop.
• The trees are relatively small, 12-1 5 m in height, and grow naturally in the
lower level of the evergreen rainforest.
• In commercial plantations they are often sheltered by inter-cropping trees
such as coconut and banana.
• The leaves are evergreen and are up to about 300 mm in length.
• Trees start bearing pods after 2 to 3 years, but it is 6 or 7 years before they
give a full yield
• cocoa looks like jackfruit tree & beans pods on the main trunk as well
trunk as well as on the branches.
• When matured, the pods turn yellow or red.
• Whey are 10-18cm in diameter containing 20-50 beans inside rows,
 Budding and flowering of
cocoa from bark of old tree.

Matured flower with opened sepals Cocoa pod development.

from bark of cocoa tree.
Arecanut as an Intercrop Crop inside Shade Coffee
Cacao flower cushion
the bloom of Cocoa Tree (Theobroma cacao)
Cacao flower in bloom
 Commercial Cocoa-Producing
Countries
• There are three major cocoa growing regions:
West Africa, South-East Asia and South
America.
 Characteristics of the Different Cocoa Varieties
Characteristic Criollo Forastero Trinitario

Pod husk Texture Soft, crinkly Hard, Smooth Mostly hard

colour Read occurs green Variable
Beans Average no. per pod 20 to 30 30 or more 30 or more
Colour of cotyledons White, ivory or purple Variable; white
very pale Pale to deep beans rarely
purple
Agronomic Tree Low Vigorous Low Vigorous Intermediate
Pest and disease susceptible moderate intermediate
susceptibility
Quality Fermentation need 1 to 3 days Normally 5 days 4 to 5 days
maximum
Flavour Weak Good chocolate Good chocolate;
chocolate; mild full cocoa
and nutty
Fat content Low High Medium

Bean Size (g/100 85 94 91

beans
 HARVESTING OF COCOA PODS
• Harvesting is the start of the post-harvest process that determines the quality of
the cocoa beans to be sold to the cocoa and chocolate industry (David, 2005)
• The development of the pod takes five to six months from fertilisation of the
flower to full maturity (Sukha, 2003).
• Only ripe and undiseased pods are harvested for optimal processing and
attainment of high-quality beans for chocolate and other cocoa base products.
• The external appearance of the pod is used as the key indicator for determining
the extent of ripening.
• The nature of the colour change in the external pod wall is dependent on the
genotype or variety of the cocoa plant (Afoakwa, 2010).
• For example, the Trinitario variety when unripe is purple but when fully ripe looks
yellowish with slight purple grooves whereas a mixed hybrid changes from green
to yellowish and likewise Amelonado and Amazonica varieties (Mikkelsen 2010).
• Cocoa harvest is not limited to one discrete period but spread over several
months and in some regions there may be pods available for harvest throughout
the year.
• Typically, there are one or two peak harvest periods influenced by flowering in
response to rainfall.
• The main season in Ghana for cocoa harvest is from September to January and the
minor season is from May to August (Mikkelsen 2010).
• Harvesting of cocoa pods can be done by hand or using an assisted tool. Pods
from lower trees can be harvested by plucking the pods from the trees by hand
• On the other hand, a knife or cutlass is normally used to remove the pod from
the tree, but there exists a special long-handled tool (made of hooked knives on
long poles) for removing pods which are higher up the tree
• Cocoa pods are normally harvested every 2 to 4 weeks over a period of several
months, as ripening does not occur at the same time.
• After removing the pods from the trees, they may be gathered into heaps and
opened immediately or allowed to sit for a few days before opening, a technique
known as pod storage which has been reported to have significant beneficial
effects on the flavour quality of the bean during subsequent fermentation and
processing.

• Over-ripe pods are more likely to get fungal diseases which affect the beans and
should then not be used.
• Pods that have fungal diseases should be picked from the trees and placed on
the ground away from the cocoa trees or can be buried.
• Mice and rats will also eat ripe pods.
• If pods are left too long on trees, the beans will start to germinate (as stated
above) and this is undesirable for the general quality and flavour of the cocoa
after fermenting and drying.
Matured unripe cocoa pods. Matured and ripened cocoa pods
Color changes as the fruit mature, and the greenish pods typically turn bright yellow, while the
maroon pods typically turn orange or yellowish orange upon ripening.
Harvesting of cocoa pods by hand.
Harvesting of cocoa pods by a hook and pole tool.
Diseased cacao beans
Healthy and diseased cacao pods
Heaping of harvested cocoa pods.
 POD BREAKING
• The thick walled pods are opened to release
the seeds or beans either by cutting with knife
or cracking with a simple wooden club.
• In the ripe pod, the mc of the beans is in the
region of 65% and they are in a sugary
mucilaginous pulp.
• This mucilaginous pulp is removed in the
subsequent steps
Pod breaking
 Removal of seeds
• • Wet beans attached to the placenta are
• removed manually using a scooping tool
• • Seeds must be separated to avoid clustering.
• • Damaged seeds like black seeds and
insectdamaged seeds must be discarded.
Cacao bean fermentation
• Scooped beans must be placed in suitable
containers to drain liquid from 16-18 hrs. •
Batch labeling must be done for traceability
purposes.
 Fermentation vessels
Fermentation boxes made of wood,
perforated baskets
 Should facilitate drainage of fermentation
drippings, ease of turning, heat accumulation
and air circulation
 Fermentation boxes must be covered (with
jute sacks or banana leaves) to avoid heat loss
and to prevent contamination
A box with dimensions of 75 cm x 75 cm x 45 cm can accommodate 200 g
of wet cacao beans.
Cacao fermentation in banana leaf lined box
Turning the beans two days after the start of fermentation ensures
uniform heating of the beans, allows air to circulate, breaks lumps and
prevents formation of molds in the beans.
Fermentation baskets
What is wrong with this?
 Factors which affect fermentation
• •Type of cacao
• Ripeness of the pods
• •Quantity of beans
• Air circulation
• Contamiantion
 Proper fermentation
• Brings out the best chocolate flavor
• Too short fermentation (under fermentation)
• produces violet beans with weak flavor.
• Over fermentation results to rotten beans
which have a putrid taste and produces
offflavors.
Beans with good brown coloration
 Fermentation
temperature for fermentation is 30-32℃ and fermentation requires 5-6 days

• During fermentation, yeasts grow on the sweet pulp and

convert the sugars to alcohol. The alcohol is oxidised by
bacteria - a process that ultimately produces carbon
dioxide, water, and heat. Hence, the pulp breaks down
and drains away.
• With correct fermentation the acetic acid and high
temperatures produced kill the cocoa bean within 24
hours.
• The bean's death causes its cell walls to break down, and
allows previously separated substances to mix.
• Chemical changes then take place within the bean. These
changes include enzyme activity, oxidation, and the
breakdown of proteins into amino acids.
• • The purple polyphenols are converted into
insoluble substances which are oxidised, giving a
well-fermented bean its characteristic chocolate-
brown colour.
• • The chemical reactions caused by fermentation
also begin to develop the bean's classic chocolate
flavour. The length of fermentation varies
depending on the bean type: Forastero beans
require 5-6 days, while Criollo beans may need
only 2-3 days.
 Drying
• The fermented beans are dried to a mc of 6-
7%. Drying is carried either by sun drying or
mechanical drying.
• Objectives:
• 1. To enhance the keeping quality of beans
• 2. To lower the mc to safe level After drying
Fermented dried cocoa beans are obtained.
 Drying cocoa beans on table. Reproduced
Cocoa beans drying on tarpaulin on
with permission of Ivan Kashinsky
the ground. Reproduced with
permission of Fabien Coutel.
Protected sun drying
 Cleaning of dried beans
• Immature beans, metals, stones, etc.
Roasting, breaking and winnowing
• Roasting develops flavor & reduces moisture content &
renders the shell in a loose condition so that it can be
easily removed by the process of winnowing, while
roasting the beans are passed through a corrugated
rollers to break their shells and remove by winnowing.
• Nib- 87%, Shell - 12%, Germ - 0.9% Roasting
temperature, for cocoa powder 116-121℃ For
chocolate liquor 99-104℃ For cocoa butter - lower
temperature
• After roasting rapid cooling is necessary to liberate the
internal heat, if not, husk get charred and quickly
crumble.
With rollers
 Milling
• The nibs are ground using stone mill or other
suitable mill to a fine paste or liquor. The heat
produce during grinding causes cocoa fat to
melt and the melted fat carried with it. This is
known as cocoa mass, chocolate liquor or
bitter chocolate. Cocoa mass contains 55% fat,
17% carbohydrates, 11% protein, 6% tannin
compounds, 3% ash, 2.5% organic acids, 2%
moisture, traces of caffeine & about 1.5%
theobromine.
 Alkalization
• It is done to improve color and flavor the process
consists of treatment of the chocolate liquor, nib
or powder with solution on suspension of alkali,
usually in the form of potassium or sodium
carbonate. The free acid is neutralized with the
addition of a requisite amount of alkali. Cocoa
process by this method is dark in color. Flavor is
somewhat bitter and astringent, then the same
material not treated with alkali.
•
 Fat pressing
• Cocoa mass is subjected to filter pressing to
separate out a major part of fat. The amount
of fat left in the pressed cake may vary and is
fixed by law. In US breakfast cocoa contents
22% fat minimum, medium fat cocoa 10-21%,
low fat cocoa less than 10%.
 Cocoa butter
• Cocoa butter is valuable bi product of cocoa
industry. It is mainly used in the manufacture of
chocolate. It is pale yellow liquid with a
characteristics odor and flavor of chocolate. It is
brittle at a temperature below 25℃ soften in
hands and melt at 34℃. It is not greasy to touch
and is rich in saturated fatty acid containing
palmitc and lower acid 26.21%, steric and higher
acid 34.4%, oleic acid and linoleic acids are
present to the extent of 37.3% and 21%
respectively. The butter keeps well due to the
presence of fat soluble antioxidant in it