COCOA PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY 2 Flashcards
Drying can be achieved either by
by exposure to the sun or artificial dryer.
The objective of drying the cocoa beans:
- To lower their moisture content to about 7-8%.
- To preserves them from attack by mold and permits their storage for
considerable period. - To arrest the fermentation process.
After fermentation process, the cocoa beans are dried under the sun
by
being spread out during the day on mats, trays or a terrace on the
ground.
They are turned regularly, and the process takes about
6 days in dry
weather or as long as 3 weeks in humid weather.
adv sun drying
Environmentally friendly , low cost and produces bean with good
quality.
Wood fires Problem
- Problem 1: Beans may be dried too quickly resulting in very acidic beans.
- Problem 2: Smoke leaking from the flue produce an unpleasant harsh, smoke or tar taste of beans that cannot be used in chocolate making.
Artificial drying
Wooden fires are lit in a chamber below the drying platform and the hot gases led through a flue beneath the drying platform then out through the vertical chimney.
drying -using Forced-air dryers
Efficient heat exchangers that stop
smoky contaminants reaching the
beans.
After drying, the moisture content of
the bean must not exceed 8% to
prevent mould growth during storage
that will give the chocolate a strong
nasty flavor.
Not to over-dry the beans because
below 6% moisture become quite brittle
and are easily damaged during handling.
When the fermentation is over and drying complete, the beans are
assessed visually for quality by the “cut” test.
“cut” test is done by cutting the beans down the division between the cotyledons.
- Fully fermented beans: dark brown
- Partially fermented: slate grey
- Unfermented: retain original color.
Properly dried beans: Ø When pressed should produce
the characteristic cracking sound and this is the most common method for determining the dryness of bean.
Undesirable beans are
rubbery in nature
FAO recommendations on the quality of cocoa
§ Cocoa should consist of clean, dry, lumpy, well fermented beans which are reasonable uniform in size.
§ On roasting, the beans should develop a good chocolate flavor of a uniform type, characteristics of their area of origin.
§ Mouldy, salty and fully purple beans are the most objectionable categories of defective beans.
Weight Specification for cocoa bean
Should not be less than 1g/cocoa bean.
Fermentation Specification for cocoa bean
Uniform fermentation
Shell Specification for cocoa bean
Should be loose, unbroken, clean, free of adherent lumps of dried pulp. It should not be more than 12% of the bean by weight.
Moisture content Specification for cocoa bean
Should be less than or equal to 7% moisture
Fat content Specification for cocoa bean
Should be as high as possible
Storage
To prolong the storage life of cocoa beans (after fermentation and drying), the control of relative humidity of the storage condition is important.
If the moisture content of cocoa bean is more then 8%,
moldy beans will be resulted. Therefore, the RH during storage should not be more than 80%.
Bean Cleaning
Remove sands, glass, stones, iron,
plant material etc.
This foreign particles are removed
by filters, magnets and air flows.
Coarse and fine impurities is
removed by sieving.
* Iron is removed by magnets.
* Stones is removed by vibrating
on a grid.
* Dust can be drawn by suction.
