Process Technology
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Growing the Cocoa Bean |
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Cocoa beans are
the product of the cacao tree. The origin of the cacao tree
is in dispute. Some say it originated in the Amazon basin of
Brazil, others place it in the Orinoco Valley of Venezuela,
while still others contend that it is native to Central
America.
Wherever its first
home, we know the cacao tree is strictly a tropical plant
thriving only in hot, rainy climates. Thus, its cultivation
is confined to lands not more than 20 degrees north or south
of the equator.
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The Need for Shelter |
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The cacao tree is
very delicate and sensitive. It needs protection from wind
and requires a fair amount of shade under most conditions.
This is true especially in its first two to four years of
growth.
A newly planted
cacao seedling is often sheltered by a different type of
tree. It is normal to plant food crops for shade such as
banana, plantain, coconuts or cocoyams. Rubber trees and
forest trees are also used for shade. Once established,
however, cacao trees can grow in full sun light, provided
there are fertile soil conditions and intensive husbandry.
Cacao plantations (trees under cultivation), and estates,
usually in valleys or coastal plains, must have evenly
distributed rainfall and rich, well drained soil.
As a general rule,
cacao trees get their start in a nursery bed where seeds from
high yielding trees are planted in fiber baskets or plastic
bags. The seedlings grow so fast that in a few months they
are ready for transplanting, container and all.
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The First Fruit |
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With pruning and
careful cultivation, the trees of most strains will begin
bearing fruit in the fifth year. With extreme care, some
strains can be induced to yield good crops in the third and
fourth years.
Everything about
the tree is just as colorful as its history. An evergreen,
the cacao tree has large glossy leaves that are red when
young and green when mature. Overlays of clinging moss and
colorful lichens are often found on the bark of the trunk,
and in some areas beautiful small orchids grow on its
branches. The tree sprouts thousands of tiny waxy pink or
white five-pedaled blossoms that cluster together on the
trunk and older branches. But, only three to 10 percent will
go on to mature into full fruit.
The fruit, which
will eventually be converted into the world's chocolate and
cocoa, has green or sometimes maroon colored pods on the
trunk of the tree and its main branches. Shaped somewhat like
an elongated melon tapered at both ends, these pods often
ripen into a golden color or sometimes take on a scarlet hue
with multicolored flecks.
At its maturity,
the cultivated tree measures from 15 to 25 feet tall, though
the tree in its wild state may reach 60 feet or more.
The potential age
of a tree is open to speculation. There are individual trees
known to be over 200 years of age, but no one has determined
the real life span of the species. However, in 25 years the
economic usefulness of a tree may be considered at an end,
and it often becomes desirable to replant with younger trees.
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Varieties of Cacao |
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While the cacao
tree bears fruit (or pods) all year round, harvesting is
generally seasonal. The pods come in a variety of types since
cacao trees cross-pollinate freely. These types can be
reduced to three classifications: Criollo, the prince of
cacaos, is a soft thin-skinned pod, with a light color and a
unique, pleasant aroma. Forastero, a more plentiful type, is
easier to cultivate and has a thick-walled pod and a pungent
aroma. Trinitario, which is believed to be a natural cross
from strains of the other two types, has a great variety of
characteristics but generally possesses good, aromatic
flavor; and these trees are particularly suitable for
cultivation.
In the Western
Hemisphere, strange as it may seem, plantations composed of
just one species of cocoa beans are uncommon. Even single
trees with all the characteristics of a specific type are
rare. Uniformity exists only where cacao plantations have
been developed from the rooted branch cuttings of single
mother trees.
In recent years,
cacao growers have turned increasingly to hybridization as a
means of improving the quality of the bean and making it more
disease resistant. Scientists using state-of-the-art
biotechnology techniques are also trying to improve the
quality of cacao and its resistance to disease.
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Handling the Harvest |
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The job of picking
ripe cacao pods is not an easy one. The tree is so frail and
its roots are so shallow that workmen cannot risk injuring it
by climbing to reach the pods on the higher branches.
The planter sends
his tumbadores, or pickers, into the fields with long
handled, mitten-shaped steel knives that can reach the
highest pods and snip them without wounding the soft bark of
the tree. Machetes are used for the pods growing within reach
on the lower trunk.
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Where Experience counts |
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It requires
training and experience to know by appearance which fruit is
ripe and ready to be cut. Ripe pods are found on trees at all
times since the growing season in the tropics, with its
evenly distributed rainfall, is continuous.
For most
localities there is a main harvest lasting several months and
a mid-crop harvest lasting several more months. Climatic
differences cause wide variations in harvest times with
frequent fluctuations from year to year even within the same
location.
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What Happens after Picking |
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Gathers follow the
harvesters who have removed the ripe pods from the trees. The
pods are collected in baskets and transported to the edge of
a field where the pod breaking operation begins. One or two
lengthwise blows from a well-wielded machete is usually
enough to split open the woody shells. A good breaker can
open 500 pods an hour.
A great deal of
patience is required to complete harvesting. Anywhere from 20
to 50 cream-colored beans are scooped from a typical pod and
the husk and inner membrane are discarded. Dried beans from
an average pod weigh less than two ounces, and approximately
400 beans are required to make one pound of chocolate.
The beans are
still many steps away from the familiar finished product.
Exposure to air quickly changes the cream-colored beans to a
lavender or purple. They do not look like the finished
chocolate nor do they have the well-known fragrance of
chocolate at this time.
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Preparing the Crop for Shipment |
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The cocoa beans or
seeds that are removed from the pods are put into boxes or
thrown on heaps and covered. Around the beans is a layer of
pulp that starts to heat up and ferment. Fermentation lasts
from three to nine days and serves to remove the raw bitter
taste of cocoa and to develop precursors and components that
are characteristic of chocolate flavor.
Fermenting is a
simple "yeasting" process in which the sugars
contained in the beans are converted to acid, primarily
lactic acid and acetic acid.
The process
generates temperatures as high as 125 degrees Fahrenheit,
which kill the germ of the bean and activate existing enzymes
in the beans to form compounds that produce the chocolate
flavor when the beans are roasted. The result is a fully
developed bean with a rich brown color, a sign that the cocoa
is now ready for drying.
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Drying is Important |
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Like any
moisture-filled fruit, the beans must be dried if they are to
keep. In some countries, drying is accomplished simply by
laying the beans on trays or bamboo matting and leaving them
to bask in the sun. When moist climate conditions interfere
with sun-drying, artificial methods are used. For example,
the beans can be carried indoors and dried by hot-air pipes.
With favorable
weather the drying process usually takes several days. In
this interval, farmers turn the beans frequently and use the
opportunity to pick them over for foreign matter and flat,
broken or germinated beans. During drying, beans lose nearly
all their moisture and more than half their weight.
When the beans are
dried, they are prepared for shipping in 130 to 200 pound
sacks. They are seldom stored except at shipping centers,
where they await inspection by buyers.
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Marketing for export |
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Buyers sample the
quality of a crop by cutting open a number of beans to see
that they are properly fermented. Purple centers indicate
incomplete fermentation.
If the prevailing
crop is found satisfactory, the grower is paid at the current
market price. The market price depends not only on the
abundance of the worldwide crop and the quality of farmers'
crops in a number of countries, but on a number of economic
conditions throughout the world. The industry has set up
Cocoa Exchanges, similar to stock exchanges, in principle
cities such as New York, London, Hamburg and Amsterdam.
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