Fermentation, drying and storage of cacao beans

1
(No Transcript)
2
About Cacao Beans

• Cacao beans are the essential beans for
  chocolate, making them a precious and highly
  valued product for their taste.
• Global cocoa production peaked at 4.8 million
  tons in 2020-2021.
• So, let us understand the fermentation, drying
  and storage of Cacao Beans.

3
Fermentation Process

• Fermentation process is key to transforming cacao
  beans to delicious chocolate.
• This fermentation process includes an aerobic and
  anaerobic phase and decides the final flavor and
  acidity of the beans.
• To ensure seamless fermentation, the right
  attention needs to be paid to temperature, faulty
  beans and time.

4
Drying Process

• After the fermentation process, Cacao beans go
  through a phase called drying.
• Here, freshly fermented beans are dried over 5 to
  7 days. If drying is too fast, it leaves the
  beans too bitter and acidic. If drying takes
  longer, the beans may fall prey to mold
  contamination.
• Throughout this entire process, the beans lose
  half their weight and nearly all moisture - a
  properly dried bean is expected to have only 7
  moisture. Drying beans can be achieved in two
  ways sun drying or artificial drying.

5
Drying Process Sun Drying

• Sun drying is the method commonly used by small
  and bootstrapped farmers, as it has next to no
  overhead costs.
• In this method, the beans are spread evenly on
  mats or rugs and dried under direct sunlight.
• With dry and hot weather, this process is easily
  achievable.

6
Drying Process Mechanical Drying

• The second method is extracting moisture
  artificially from the beans through mechanical
  drying.
• This requires an investment in machinery.
• It is better suited for cacao growing countries
  that have humid weather.
• Although sun drying is cheaper, it leaves the
  beans exposed to insects and pollutants. They can
  impact the flavor and quality of the beans.

7
Storage

• After all these processes, the beans are ready to
  be stored, shipped and processed.
• It is advisable to use Professional vacuum
  packing bags or hermetic grain storage bags.
• They help keep these beans in their prime
  conditions as they travel across the world.
• Another enemy of freshly dried beans is moisture
  - excess moisture can affect the Free Fatty Acid
  (FFA) in the beans. This measures the rancidity
  of cacao.
• Without hermetic grain storage bags or vacuum
  packing bags, this rancidity can rise, ruining
  the beans and making it unsellable. Fresh beans
  should have FFA between 1.0 - 1.7 levels.

8

• Contact Us
• Website- www.ecotactbags.com/
• Phone - 91 11 47028340, 91 11 23938035
• Email- info_at_ecotactbags.com