PLATE I
The Cacao Tree—Theobroma Cacao, Linné.

Zipperer, Manufacture of Chocolate etc. 3^rd edition.
Verlag M. Krayn, Berlin W. 10.

THE
MANUFACTURE
OF
CHOCOLATE
AND OTHER CACAO PREPARATIONS

BY
Dr. PAUL ZIPPERER.

Third Edition
REARRANGED, THOROUGHLY REVISED, AND LARGELY REWRITTEN.

EDITOR
DR. PHIL. HERM. SCHAEFFER
FOOD CHEMIST AND MANAGING DIRECTOR.

WITH 132 ILLUSTRATIONS, 21 TABLES AND 3 PLATES.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Rosenthal & Co., Berlin NW.21, Alt-Moabit 105

[Preface to the third edition of “The Manufacture of Chocolate” by Dr. Zipperer.]

It is now a decade since the appearance of the last edition, and owing to continual delays in the compiling of the present volume, the book has been out of print for several years. These delays ensued because the editor wished to take into account the most recent determinations and decrees of the guilds and various legislative factors connected with the industry; but he was at length forced to the conclusion that notwithstanding the excellent organisation and lofty standing of the branch under consideration, it was useless to wait for anything final and absolute in such a field. Suggestions of possible improvements and indications of blemishes are therefore earnestly invited, in order that they may be duly allowed for in the event of a new edition.—The plan followed by Zipperer has been adopted in the main; a tribute due to its previous success. Yet on the other hand, the arrangement of the book has undergone some alteration, and is, at least in the editor’s opinion, a perceptible improvement.—All scientific, industrial and technical progress has been treated as fully as possible, the economic part in particular having been diligently recast.

It would, of course, have been impossible for the editor to write all these chapters without external aid, his knowledge of the respective branches being by no means exhaustive enough. He may therefore be allowed to express here his obligation and thanks to all his fellow-workers; and in particular, to the Association of German Chocolate Manufacturers, Dresden; its managing director, Herr Greiert; the director of the Cocoa Purchase Co., Hamburg, Herr Rittscher, who contributed the whole of the chapter headed; Commercial Varieties of Cacao Beans; further to Prof. Dr. Härtel, Chief Inspector of the Royal Research Institute, Leipsic; Dr. R. Böhme, Managing Director of Messrs. Stollwerck Bros. Chemical Laboratory, Cologne; and to Superintendent Engineer Schneider, of the firm J. M. Lehman, Dresden, among many others. Mention must also be made of the manufacturers who so kindly placed material at the editor’s disposal. Let us hope that the work will meet with a success corresponding to the pains taken by the editor and publishers, and prove a really serviceable Handbook to the Chocolate Industry.

Dr. Schaeffer.

[Extracts from the prefaces to the first and second editions.]

The object of this work is to furnish a source of information and advice for those who are interested in the branch of industry to which it relates.

The author of this treatise has therefore endeavoured not only to describe the manufacturing processes; but he has also devoted special attention to the raw materials employed, and endeavoured to make them generally familiar by reference to the literature on the subject, as well as by providing a precise account of the chemical constituents of these substances and discussing the consequently necessary procedure to be observed in the course of manufacture. The art of chocolate making is no longer what it was a few decades ago; it has for the most part passed from small operators into the hands of large manufacturers. A short historical resumé will serve as a sketch of this development and a cursory description of some forms of apparatus which have now merely historical interest will serve to show how improvement in the industry has been effected.

Chocolate is a favourite and most important article of food, and in that sense it is subject to legal regulations for which allowances must be made, as well as for the most suitable analytical methods by means of which a manufacturer can ascertain the presence of unlawful mixtures in competing products, so that knowing the regulations in force, he may avoid any infringement of the same.

Within the ten years that have elapsed since the first edition of this work appeared, the manufacture of chocolate has undergone considerable expansion. Not only has the modus operandi been simplified and improved by the introduction of a number of new mechanical appliances, but the technique of the subject has been so extended, both from chemical and mechanical points of view, as partly to furnish a new standard in estimating and determining cacao constituents and preparations. The author has endeavoured to take due account of all these advances, and made a point of collecting the material scattered through the various professional journals, sifting or supplementing where necessary, in order that all engaged in the industry, the manufacturer as well as the food analyst and the engineer, may be in a position to derive a vivid impression of existing conditions in the chocolate manufacture, from the present volume.

In consideration of the importance which several branches of the industry have recently acquired, such as the preparation of cocoa powder, soluble cocoa, cacao butter, pralinés and chocolate creams, space has been given to descriptions of the respective details. On the other hand no attempt has been made to introduce calculations as to the cost of manufacture, since statements to that effect would possibly be rather detrimental than otherwise.

Costs of production as regards cacao preparations is subject to great variation, according to the scale on which they are carried out, so that estimates made on the basis of large operations might eventually lead to the conclusion that a small factory might be profitable, and with no better result than that of creating undue competition in prices and occasioning eventual failure. Moreover, the fluctuations in the market price of cacao and sugar are so frequent, and there is such possibility of new sources of expense, that calculations can only apply to the time when they are made; they soon become out of date, and then afford no trustworthy indication of probable profit and loss.

The section treating of legislative regulations relating to the trade in cacao preparations has undergone complete revision to adapt it to existing conditions.

To render the book more useful, an appendix has been added in which the production and composition of a few cacao preparations are treated of, providing valuable data for reference.

Dr. Paul Zipperer.

CONTENTS

Part I.
The Cacao Tree.

A. Tree and Beans.

a) Description of the Cacao Tree and its Fruit.

The cacao tree with its clusters of red blossom and golden yellow fruits is conspicuous even in tropical vegetation. Of considerable diameter at the base, it often attains a height of eight metres. Its wood is porous and light; the bark is cinnamon coloured, the simply alternating leaves are from 30 to 40 cm. in length and from 10 to 12 cm. broad, growing on stalks about 3 cm. long. The upper surface of these leaves is bright green, and the other one of a duller colour, and slightly hairy.

The flowers, which are often covered with hairs, occur either singly or united in bunches not only on the thicker branches but also all along the trunk from the root upwards. (Fig. 1 A.)

The formation of the fruit takes place only from the flowers of the stem or thicker branches, and for a thousand flowers there is only one ripe fruit.

The flowers (fig. 1 B & C) are very small and of a reddish white colour. Calyx and corolla are five partite, the ten filaments are united at their base (fig. 1 G) and only half of them are developed to fruitful organs, such as bear pollen (fig. 1 J) in their four separate anther compartments (fig. 1 H).

The pistil is formed of five united carpels and bears in each of its five compartments eight ovules. (Fig. 1 E & F).

The fruit is at first green, and afterwards turns yellow, but with streaks and tints of red occurring; many varieties also are entirely crimson. Resembling our cucumber in size, shape and appearance (see fig. [2 A & B]), it has a length of about 25 cm. and a diameter of 10 cm., and the thickness of its shell is from 15 to 20 mm. This shell is of rather softer consistency than that of the gourd, and has five deep longitudinal channels, with five others of less depth between them.

Fig. 1. (After Berg & Schmidt, Atlas.)
A Twig in bloom (1/2). B Flower (3/1). C Flower in vertical section (3/1). D Leaf of flower (6/1) E Bean-pod in vertical section (6/1) F Bean-pod in cross section (9/1). H Anther. J Pollen.

The shell encloses a soft, sweetish pulp, within which from twenty-five to forty almond shaped seeds are ranged in five longitudinal rows, close to each other. The white colour of these seeds is frequently tinged with yellow, crimson, or violet (Sec. Fig. 2 C. D. & G).

Fig. 2. (After Berg & Schmidt).
A Fruit with half of shell removed (1/2). B Fruit in cross section (½). C Side view of seed (1/3). D Front view of seed (1/1). E Seedling (1/1). F Kotyledon or Seed-leaf (1/1). G Seed in cross section (1/1).

The fruits ripen throughout the whole year, though but slowly during the dry season; and the time needed for its full development is about four months. It may be gathered at all times of the year, although there are regular gathering seasons, determined and modified by the respective climatic conditions. So, for example, we find that in Brazil the principal gathering takes place in February and July, whilst in Mexico it is in March and April. In the primeval Amazonian forests the fruit of the cacao tree is gathered and brought to market at all times of the year, wherever Indian tribes obtain.

b) Geographical Distribution and History of the Cacao Tree.

The cacao tree flourishes in a warm, moist climate. It is therefore indigenous to tropical America, from 23° north to 15° or 20° south latitude.

Consequently the area in which it grows comprises the Central American republic of Mexico down to the Isthmus of Panama; Guatemala, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, Martinique, Trinidad, St. Lucia, Granada, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, and San Domingo; in South America, the republics of Venezuela, Columbia, Guiana, Ecuador, Peru and the northern parts of Brazil, especially the districts lying along the middle Amazon.

In all other countries where the cacao tree now flourishes, it has been naturalised, either by colonists, or with government aid, as in Asia, where the Philippine Islands, Java, Celebes, Amboyna and Ceylon in particular are deserving of mention; and in Cameroon (Bibundi, Victoria and Buea), Bourbon, San Thomé and the Canary Islands in Africa, where the tree is sometimes found growing at an elevation of about 980 ft. above sea level. Ceylon offers an instructive illustration of the zeal with which the cultivation is carried on in some districts. According to information furnished by Mr. Ph. Freudenburg, late German Consul at Colombo, cacao had been planted in a few instances during the time Ceylon was in possession of the Dutch, but only since 1819 has seed been distributed out of the botanical gardens at Kalatura, and it was still later before planters could obtain it from those established at Peradenija. Systematic cultivation for commercial purposes was commenced in 1872 or 1873. The principal seats of cacao plantations are Dumbara, Kurunegalla, Kegalla and Polgahawella, together with North, East and West Matala, Urah and Panwila.[1] According to statistical records, the relation between the growth and export of cacao is shown by the following table, which also shows the development of its cultivation:

Like all other articles of human food, cacao has a history of some interest, the most essential points of which are here summarised from the excellent work of A. Mitscherlich.[2]

A knowledge of the cacao tree was first brought to Europe in 1519 by Fernando Cortez and his troops. He found in Mexico a very extensive cultivation of cacao, which had been carried on for several centuries. In the first letter addressed by Cortez to Charles the Fifth, he described cacao beans as being used in place of money. Cortez applied to the cacao tree the name of “Cacap”, a word derived from the old Mexican designation “Cacava-quahitl”. The Mexicans called the fruit “Cacavacentli”, the beans “Cacahoatl” and the beverage prepared from them “Chocolatl”[3], said to be derived from the root “Cacava” and “Atl”, water. This term was adopted by the Spaniards, and it gave rise in the course of time to the word “Chocolate”, which is now universal.

The botanical definition of the typical form of the cacao tree, which belongs to the family BUTTNERIACEAE, is referable to Linnaeus, who gave it the name “Theobroma Cacao” (food of the gods, from “Theos”, God, and “Broma”, food). Probably chocolate was a favourite beverage with Linnaeus, who may have been acquainted with the work of the Paris physician Buchat, published in 1684, in which chocolate is alluded to as an invention more worthy of being called food of the gods than nectar or ambrosia. Clusius first described the cacao tree in his “Plantae exoticae”. The taste for chocolate soon spread throughout Spain after the return of Cortez’ expedition from the New World, not, however, without encountering some opposition, especially on the part of the clergy, who raised the question whether it were lawful to partake of chocolate on fast days, as it was known to possess nutritive properties. However, it found an advocate in Cardinal Brancatio, who described it as an article belonging, like wine, to the necessaries of life, and he therefore held that its use in moderation could not be prohibited. In 1624 Franciscus Rauch published a work at Vienna, in which he condemned the use of chocolate and suggested that the monks should be prevented from partaking of it, as a means of preventing excesses. About the commencement of the 17th century, the use of chocolate spread from Spain to Italy, where it was brought to the notice of the public by the Florentine Antonio Carletti (1606), who had lived for some time in the Antilles. The method of converting cacao beans into chocolate was also made known in Europe by Carletti, while the Spaniards had kept it a secret. Under Theresa of Austria, wife of Louis XIV, the habit of taking chocolate appears to have become very common in France after the partial introduction of cacao by importation from Spain. The first cacao imported from the French colony of Martinique arrived in Brest in 1679 in “Le Triomphant”, the flagship of admiral d’Estrées. Opinion in France as to chocolate was then divided: Madame Sévigné, once an admirer of chocolate, afterwards wrote to her daughter: “il vous flatte pour un temps et puis il vous allume tout d’un coup fièvre continue qui vous conduit à la mort”, a theory which nowadays must necessarily be regarded as ridiculous.

Chocolate was in general use in England about the middle of the 17th century. Chocolate houses, similar to the coffee houses of Germany, were opened in London. Bontekoë, physician to the Elector Wilhelm of Brandenburg, published in 1679 a work entitled “Tractat van Kruyd, Thee, Coffe, Chocolate,” in which he spoke very strongly in favour of chocolate and contributed very sensibly to the increase of its consumption in Germany. The first chocolate factory in Germany is said to have been erected by Prince Wilhelm von der Lippe about the year 1756 at Steinhude. This prince brought over Portuguese specially versed in the art of chocolate making.

c) Cultivation of the Cacao Tree; Diseases and Parasites.

The first information regarding the cultivation of the cacao tree in Mexico is that obtained on the invasion of the country by the Spaniards. Prior to that time there is a total absence of anything definite. The tree flourishes best in situations where the mean temperature is between 24° and 28° C. The farther the place of cultivation from the equator the poorer is the product. The other most essential conditions are long continued moisture of the soil and a soft, loose texture with abundance of humus, and above all, shelter from the direct rays of the sun. For these reasons, planters select for their cacao areas ground the virgin soil of which has not been exhausted by the cultivation of other plants. The plants are either raised in a nursery until they reach the most suitable age for transplanting, or the seeds are sown on the ground selected for the plantation. The transport of live seed for new plantations is attended with some difficulty, since the seeds very quickly lose their vitality. C. Chalot[4] recommends that this vitality be preserved by gathering the fruit before it is perfectly ripe, immersing it in melted paraffin oil, and then wrapping it in paper; on which the fruit may be transported without losing any of its nutritive qualities.

In the sheltered valleys of tropical countries, where the soft soil, rich in humus, is kept constantly moist by large rivers, the cacao tree blossoms throughout the whole year. When growing wild it is generally isolated under the shadow of larger trees; when cultivated, the young plant is placed under the shelter of banana trees, and at a later period of its growth shelter is provided by the coral (called Erythrina corallodendron or Erythrina indica), further known as “Coffie-mama” among the Surinam Dutch and madre del cacao among the Spaniards. Yet this tree, like the Maniok, is said not to enjoy so long a life as the cacao plant, which sometimes reaches an age of forty years. On this account the Castilloa or also Caesalpina dashyracis have recently been recommended as a more lasting protection. The fact that it does not lose its leaves during the dry season (e. g. on Java, during the East Monsoon) is an additional advantage.

A cacao plantation requires a considerable area, in the proportion of 50 hectares for 20,000 trees. The quantity of fruit to be obtained from that number of trees, as an annual crop, would be worth from £ 1,200-1,300. In planting the seeds, they are set in rows that are from 8 to 10 m. apart, four or five seeds being planted within from 1 to 2 m, the shading trees being planted between the rows. Of each five seeds planted the greater number often fail to germinate, either in consequence of unfavourable weather or as the result of attacks by insects etc.; but if more than one plant grows, the weaker ones are pulled up. Until the plants are two or three years old, they are protected by a shed open at one side, and they are transplanted after they have attained a height of 3 ft. The chief enemies of tropical cultivation—weeds, aerial roots, insects, bacterial infection—have to be provided against continually, so as to prevent damage; accordingly if the ground be not moist enough, it should be systematically watered, and so drained if marshy, for the tree requires most careful nursing if it is to develop into a prolific fruit-bearing specimen. The seed germinates about fourteen days after being planted; but flowers are not produced till after 3 or 5 years. After the tree has once born fruit, which may occur at the end of the fourth year it often continues to do so for fifty years. The tree is most prolific when from twelve to thirty years old.

As in the case of all cultivated plants and domestic animals, the existence of which does not depend on the principal of natural selection, and among which life is not a continuous development of endurance in the face of adverse elements, the cacao tree has its peculiar diseases. Indeed, it would seem as though it were beset by all vermin extant. The reader may obtain some idea of the extent of the damage done to cacao plantations by such noxious agents, if he turns up the clear and exhaustive account published by the Imperial Biological Institute for Agriculture and Forestry (Germany).[5] Unfortunately we have not space here to mention more than a few of the most frequently occurring and important diseases, such as the GUM DISEASE, which is especially destructive, gum formations in the wood tissue and bark of the tree eventually killing it. Next to be dreaded are the various fungus growths, cancers and cancer-like incrustations (“Krulloten”) and broom formations. It often happens that specii of beetle attack the tree, causing decay and rot to set in; such e. g. are the wood-borer, bark bug, and woodbeetle. Other parasites, again, do not destroy the whole tree, but are equally detrimental, as they also preclude all prospects of a harvest. Fruit rot and its like, fruit cancer, and cacao moths, are notorious in this connection. There are also several larger creatures which betray a preference for the nutritious fruit of the cacao tree, various species of rat, and the squirrel, which unite to make the planter’s life a burden.

d) Gathering and Fermentation.

The gathering of the fruit is effected by means of long rods, at the end of which is a semi-circular knife for cutting through the stalk. The fruits are then split in two, the beans separated from the surrounding pulp and spread out on screens to dry, or exposed to the sun on bamboo floors. Beans so prepared are described as unfermented.

In most lands where cacao is cultivated, another process is adopted, calculated to heighten the flavour of the fruit and develop its nutritious constituents. The newly gathered beans are first partially freed from the fruity substances always adhering, then piled up into heaps and covered with banana skins or cocoa-nut matting, in order that they may be shut off as far as possible from all atmospheric influence, and so left for some time, while the chemical processes of warming and fermentation are gradually consummating. This procedure is alternated with repeated exposures to the sun, according to the maturity and species of the cacao bean, and the prevailing weather conditions; though details as to the length of time and number of repetitions necessary to the production of a marketable article still await determination.[6] It may be taken as a general rule that fermentation should proceed till the bean, or rather the cotyledon, has acquired the light brown colour characteristic of chocolate. This principle is nevertheless often violated, especially as loss of weight in the bean is often intimately connected with complete fermentation. Unsufficiently fermented varieties, but which were fully ripe when gathered, develop a violet colour during this process; it is possible for them to pass through what is known as “After fermentation” before reaching the factory. This is not so in the case of beans developing from unripe fruit, for obviously the valuable constituents of the cotyledon are here not prominent, and scarcely calculated to ferment properly. Such can be recognised by their betraying a bluish grey colour in the drying processes, and the soft and smooth structure which they then acquire. A normal progress of fermentation is indicated where the interior of the mass of beans registers, on the first morning after gathering, a temperature not exceeding 30-33° C, 35-38° on the second day, and on the third morning a temperature not exceeding 43° C. If the outer shells are marked, the heating has been too severe. In countries where the harvest season suffers from the periodical rains, drying over wooden fires[7] is often resorted to. The value of many specimens is hereby greatly diminished when the roasting is carelessly managed, for the smoke must on no account be allowed to come into contact with the bean. Yet “Smoky” lots among the St. Thomas, Accra, and Kameroon sorts were formerly much more frequent in commerce than now, for the planter has learned to avoid this evil. After they have been fermented, the beans are washed, or trodden with the naked foot, in some countries, and so cleansed from the pulp remains still adhering. They are then allowed to dry in the open air, and packed into sacks; contact with metal or stone is strictly to be avoided, which as good conductors of heat and rapid cooling agents are most disadvantageous. Instead of piling the beans up in loose heaps, they may be fermented in “Tanks” made of wood, and where possible, provided with partitions. According to Kindt, cedar wood has been proved best for this purpose, because of its enormous resisting capacity. It used to be thought that in fermentation ensued a germination of the seed,[8] as in the preparation of malt; but this idea has been proved erroneous. The contrary is rather the case, for the process almost kills the seed; and when the sensitiveness of the latter is taken into consideration, and also the fact that it only develops under the most favourable conditions, it must be allowed that the statement contains an obvious truth. Yet chemical change does take place in the fermentation of the seed; but as to its precise nature, owing to the lack of scientific research on the scene of operations, we are still unable to dogmatise. It would therefore be useless to discuss the manifold theories and speculations bearing on this point, and waste of time to discuss the various kinds of fermentation and the chemical processes therein involved. Yet it may almost be taken for granted, that the fresh-plucked bean contains a so-called glycoside[9] which decomposes into grape sugar, into an equally amyloids colour stuff (the so-called cacao-red), and the nitrogeneous alkaloids Theobromine and Kaffein; a change probably incidental to the fermentation.[10] The sugar might further split up into Alcohol and Carbonic Acid Gas, although this is by no means established.

Whilst we have lost our bearings as far as the chemical aspect of this process is concerned, we are much more firm in respect to the biological, thanks to researches which Dr. v. Preyers has conducted on the spot in Ceylon. Preyer’s[11] experiments leave absolutely no room for objection, and it can safely be accepted that there are no bacteria present in fermentation, but a fungus-like growth rich in life, a kind of yeast by him called Saccharomyces Theobromae, and described in passing;[12] facts which constitute the gist of his findings. He further establishes that the presence of bacteria often noticed is absolutely undesirable, and that better results are obtained when all life is energetically combated, and especially these bacteria. We should, then, be confronted with the same phenomenon in the preparation of cacao as are already met with in beer brewing, and the pressing of wine and which are still waited for in the preparing of tea and tobacco.

The kernel of the fresh bean, “Nips”, is white and has a bitter taste and alternates in colour between whitish yellow, rose and violet; the mere influence of solar heat is sufficient to produce the brown cacao pigment, but drying is not so effective as fermentation in removing the harsh bitter taste and hence fermented beans are always to be preferred. These have often acquired a darker colour in the process, their weight is considerably diminished, and their flavour modified to an oily sweetness, without losing an atom of the original aroma[13].

Commercially and for manufacturing purposes only the seeds of the cacao tree are of importance. The root bark is said by Herr Loyer of Manila to be of medicinal value as a remedy for certain common female complaints and is employed by the natives of the Philippine Islands as an abortifacient. According to Peckoldt[14] the fruit shell contains a considerable amount of material that yields mucilage and might therefore be utilised as a substitute for linseed.

e) Description of the Beans.

The varieties of the cacao tree which yield the beans at the present time occurring in commerce are.

Theobroma cacao, Linné the true cacao, spread over the widest area, and almost exclusively cultivated on plantations, with many varieties (Crillo, Forastero etc.) and Theobroma bicolor, a party-coloured cacao tree the seeds of which are mixed with Brazilian and Caracas beans.

Theobroma speciosum Wildenow, which yields, like Theobroma cacao, Brazilian beans (magnificent tree).

Theobroma quayanense, yielding Guiana beans.

Theobroma silvestre or forest cacao.

Theobroma subincanum, white-leaved-cacao, and Theobroma microcarpum, small-fruited cacao, are met with as admixtures in Brazilian beans.

Theobroma glaucum, grey cacao, fruits of which variety are found among Caracas beans.

Theobroma angustifolium the narrow-leaved and Theobroma ovatifolium, oval leaf, may be regarded as characteristic of Mexican cacao.

Before describing the commercial kinds of cacao, a knowledge of which is of first importance to manufacturers, it is desirable to consider the beans in regard to external form and microscopial structure, in order that the use of some indispensable scientific expressions in the subsequent description of particular commercial kinds of cacao may be intelligible.

The bean, page 3 Fig. 2 C-G, consists, according to Hanousek[15], of a seed-shell, a seed-skin and the embryo or kernel with the radicle. The oval-shaped seed is generally from 16 to 28 mm. long, 10 to 15 mm. broad and from 4 to 7 mm. thick. At the lower end of the bean there is a depressed, flattened and frequently circular hilum visible, from which a moderately marked line extends up to the apex of the bean where it forms the centre of radiating longitudinal ribs— vascular bundles-extending to the middle of the bean through the outer seed-coating back to the hilum.

The outer seed shell (cf. Fig. 3) is of the thickness of paper, brittle, scaly externally and reddish brown, lined with a colourless translucent membrane peeling to the so-called silver membrane (previously but falsely known as seed envelope) and penetrating into the convolutions of the kernel in irregularly divided folds. The shells of some of the better sorts of beans, such as Caracas, are frequently covered with a firmly adherent, dense, reddish-brown powder, consisting of ferruginous loam originating from the soil on which the beans have been dried and serving as a protection against the attacks of insects. But opinions are divided as to, the utility of this process.

The fermented kernel consists of two large cotyledons occupying the whole bean; it is of fatty lustre, reddish grey or brown colour and often present a superficial violet tinge; and under gentle pressure readily breaks up into numerous angular fragments the surfaces of which are generally bordered by the silver membrane. The fragments can be easily recognised when laid in water. At the contact of the lobes there is an angular middle rib and two lateral ribs are connected with the radicle at the broader end of the bean. The ripe fresh-gathered cacao-kernel is undoubtedly white and the reddish brown or violet pigment is formed during the fermenting of the bean. But there is also a white cacao, though seldom met with. According to information furnished by Dr. C. Rimper of Ecuador, it is of rare occurrence and is not cultivated to any great extent. In Trinidad also a perfectly white seeded cacao, producing large fruit and fine kernels, was introduced from Central America by the curator of the Botanic Gardens in 1893.

The microscopic structure of the shell, Fig. III., presents no remarkable peculiarity that requires to be noticed here.

The delicate inner membrane (fig. 3) coating the cotyledons and penetrating into their folds consists of several layers. Connected with it are club-shaped glandular structures, fig. 4, consisting of several dark coloured cells that are known as the Mitscherlich particles. According to A. F. W. Schimper[16] they are hairs fallen from the epidermis (fig. 4) of the cotyledon and do not originate, as was formerly supposed, in the inner silver membrane.

These structures, named after their discoverer, were formerly supposed to be algae, or cells of the embryo sac, unconnected with the tissues of the seed cells. They are, however, as true epidermoid structures, similar to the hairs of other plants.

Fig. 3. Cross Section of Shell of Cacao Bean (Tschirsch).

These Mitscherlich particles are not only characteristic of the seed membrane, but also of the entire seed as well as the preparations made from it. Wherever cacao is mixed with other materials, its presence may be ascertained by microscopical detection of these structures, which are peculiar to cacao.

In the large elongated, hexagonal cells of the seed membrane there are two other structures to be seen with the aid of high power (250 fold), one appearing as large crystalline druses, while the other consists of extremely fine needles united in bundles.

Fig. 4.
Cross section of the cotyledon, showing “Mitscherlich particles” (Moeller).

By addition of petroleum spirit the former, consisting of fat acid crystals, are dissolved, the latter, remaining unaltered, are considered by Mitscherlich to be theobromine crystals, since their crystalline form closely resembles that of theobromine. A more scientific explanation has not been forthcoming.

The cotyledons are seen under the microscope to consist of a tissue of thin walled cells, without cavities, lying close together, and here and there distributed through the tissue, cells with brownish yellow, reddish brown, or violet coloured contents. These latter are the pigment cells which contain the substance known as cacao-red and analogous to tannin; it, together with theobromine, gives rise to the delicate taste and aroma of cacao. The other cells of the tissue are filled with extremely small starch granules the size of which rarely exceeds 0.005 mm.; with them are associated fat, in the form of spear-shaped crystals, and albuminoid substances.

In order to discriminate between these substances they must be stained by various reagents. According to Molisch[17], theobromine may be recognised, in sections of the seed, by adding a drop of hydrochloric acid and after some time an equal drop of auric chloride solution (3 %) After some of the liquid has evaporated, bunches of long yellow crystals of theobromine aurochloride make their appearance. On addition of osmic acid the fat is coloured greyish brown. On addition to the microscopic section a drop of iodine solution, or better iodozine chloride, the starch becomes blue, while albuminous substances are coloured yellow. Cacao starch granules are very small and cannot well be mistaken for other kinds, except the starch of some spices such as pimento or that of Guarana, prepared from the seeds of Paulinna sorbilis. According to Möller the blue iodine colouration of cacao starch takes place very slowly and it is probably retarded by the large amount of fat present; but the point has been contested by Zipperer and later investigators.

In order to make the starch granules of cacao and the cells containing cacao-red distinctly visible under the microscope, it is advisable to immerse the section in a drop of almond oil, because the addition of water renders the object indistinct in consequence of the large amount of fat present. Another excellent medium for the microscopic observation of cacao is the solution of 8 parts of chloral hydrate in 5 parts of water, as recommended by Schimper.[18]

By these means it may easily be seen that the pigment or cacao red in different sorts of cacao varies more or less in colour.

To complete the account of the microscopic characters of the cacao cotyledon, mention must be made of the small vascular bundles, generally spiral, that are distributed throughout the tissues of the cotyledons and are readily made visible by adding a drop of oil or a drop of chloral hydrate solution.

f) The Commercial Sorts of the Cacao Bean.

Mindful of Goethe’s dictum: Friend, the paths of theory are uncertain, and hid in gloom, we propose to devote this chapter to an exclusively practical discussion of the commercial value of raw cacao, and from the merchant’s point of view.

Such differences of opinion prevail in manufacturing circles as to the possible uses of each separate sort, that for this reason alone any other than a purely geographical classification would scarcely be feasible. But apart from this, varying as it does with the protective duties imposed, the commercial value of cacao can by no means remain a universal constant; and it must be noted that variations in the national taste serve to heighten its instability.

This latter circumstance also causes a deviation from the nearly related principal that the Motherland becomes chief consumer of the varieties grown in her colonies. The cacao sorts of the English Gold-Coast running under the collective name of Accra, have taken complete possession of the German market; Trinidad cacao enjoys immense popularity in France, and the Dutch pass on the larger part of their Java importations to other consuming nations. As regards this latter sort, however, the fact they are chiefly employed as colouring and covering stuffs for other cacaos must be taken into consideration.

In most cases either the producing country or a principal shipping port gives its name to the different sorts. Yet paradoxical exceptions will at once occur to the reader. The inferior and mediocre Venezuelan varieties of the Barlovento district shipped from La Guayra are generally denominated as Caracas, notwithstanding the fact that the capital of the republic Venezuela, situated as it is 1000 metres above sea level (being about 3300 feet), and therefore quite outside the cacao zone, has practically no connection with the cacao trade. The collective name, Samana still holds good for the cacaos of the Dominican republic, at least in Germany, although this outlet of a tiny mountainous peninsular has long ceased to export any but very insignificant quantities. Consequently, and rightly, the French merchant specifies these sorts as Sanchez, adopting the name of the principal cacao exporting port of the republic. Arriba, the choicest product of Ecuador (port, Guayaquil) takes its name from the Spanish word arriba, above, the plantations being situated along the upper sources of the Rio Guayas (to wit, the rivers Daule, Vinces, and Zapotal). Other Guayaquil cacaos are named after the rivers (Balao, Naranjal) and districts (e. g. Machala) where they are most cultivated.

As in the case of so many other cultivated plants, distinguishing characteristics of the various sorts are not only determined by the different species of tree, but are rather and principally dependant on the combined effect of physical and climatic conditions. So whether the seedling Criollo, the splendid Creole bean native to Venezuela, belongs also to the more fruitful Forastero species (spanish forastero, foreign), a variety less sensitive and consequently commoner, is a problem which can only claim secondary consideration.

Apart from the geographical influences mentioned, method and nicety of procedure are of prime importance in the preparation of the cacao sorts. Yet technically perfect implements do not always prove the best means to an attainment of this end; it being a fact recorded by experience that the chemical constituents of the cacao bean reach their fullest developement in such simple and primitive processes as, e. g. are still patronised in Ecuador and Venezuela. It is scarcely necessary to observe that these simple and primitive methods postulate nicety and carefulness, which failing, there will be no lack of defects in the cacao prepared. On the Haiti/Domingo island, e. g. a variety of cacao is harvested which is in itself very profitable, as stray specimens finding their way to the market testify, but which as an article of commerce proves most unreliable, being generally brought on the market in such an unprepared state, that fermentation first takes place on the sea voyage, and then of course only in insufficient measure. During this period appear those disagreeable and accompanying symptoms technically known as “Vice propre” and the beans, which were not completely ripe in the first place, do not develop further, and greenish breakings in the skin become pronounced, and remain a source of terror to the manufacturing world. All attempts made in European interests to bring about an alteration in this deplorable state of affairs have hitherto been lost on the indolence of the native planters. Indeed, until the political and economical conditions prevalent among the mixed Negro population of Haiti/Domingo are thoroughly reformed, no perceptible improvement can be expected in the qualities of the Samana and Haiti cacaos, for which reason, with rapidly disappearing exceptions, there are scarcely any well organised plantations in these parts.

Turning to the Old World, we find in the West African Gold Coast a typical example of the possibilities of cultivation on a small scale, under proper and competent guidance, and with primitive processes; for not only as far as quantitative progress is concerned, but also in respect to quality, the varieties produced by the natives of this English colony improve from year to year. Kameroon, a district which like the Gold Coast has only taken to the cultivation of cacao of late years, provides us with an exactly opposite instance. Here the plantation system has been in force right from the commencement of the industry, with all its technically perfected implements, yet nevertheless the perfecting of the cacao proceeds very slowly, and it will be a long time before the produce of this land can lay any serious claim to specification as a variety for consumption. Its large proportion of acid ingredient has been above all detrimental, almost completely precluding its use as any other but a mixing sort, although some plantations have been yielding comparatively mild cacaos now for several years. We cannot stay to discuss the problem of causes in this instance, and whether the fact that the Forastero species has been exclusively planted prejudices the developement of the cacao, or the climatic conditions, must remain an open question. Let it be noted in passing that the Forastero Bean has taken universal possession of Africa, as well in Kameroon, as in the Gold Coast, on the island of St. Thomas and also in the Congo Free State. The Bahia cacao, again, owes its origin to the Forastero seedling.

We will refrain from any further elaboration of this introduction, however, so as not to anticipate the following review of the various commercial sorts of cacao.

f) I. American Cacao Varieties.

A. Central America.

We begin with

Mexico, the classical cacao land, scarcely of importance to the general trade, as the greater part of its entire produce, comprising about three thousand tons yearly, is consumed in its native country. Of the other Central American states, next to

Nicaragua, whose large Venezuelan-like beans find their way to the Hamburg market from time to time,

Costa Rica is above all worthy of mention. This state began to export its home produce in 1912, averaging for that year about 60 tons; and in 1909, the export had already increased to 350 tons, mostly to England and North America, through the shipping port called Port Limon.

B. South America.

Columbia. From this republic come two distinct sorts; the rare, rounded, and native

Cauca bean, which is nearly related to the Maracaibo variety, and which cultivated along the Magdalena river is in the main shipped from Baranquille, on the Caribbean sea, occasionally also from Bueneventura on the Pacific coast; and then the

Tumaco Cacao, so named from the small shipping port on the Ecuador border, which resembles the inferior sorts of the Ecuador coast.

Cauca-and Tumaco-cacaos are only seldom free from defective beans and worm-eatings, probably less caused by the primitive processes of preparation than the difficult means of communication in this country. Then also considerable quantities are retained for home consumption.

Ecuador is the home of the cacao richest in aroma, the country which first developed the plantation system on a large and well organised scale, and which was still at the head of cacao-harvesting lands a few years ago, with a yearly produce of about 32,000 tons. Yet although it had increased this amount to 40,000 tons in the year 1911, Ecuador can only take second rank among cultivating lands, the Gold Coast coming first. The following and most valuable varieties are embraced under the name of the chief shipping port.

GUAYAQUIL. They are:

1. Arriba, i. e. above, these cacaos coming from the upper tributaries of the rio Guaya (the rivers Daule, Vinces, Publoviejo, and Zapatol). The Arribas, like the Guayaquil cacaos generally, are chiefly used in the preparation of cacao powders. They form e. g. the principal constituents of the Dutch cacao powders, especially the so-called superior Summer-Arriba, harvested from the month of April to July. All that is gathered in other seasons falls into the general class “Arriba superior de la época

The cacaos of the months immediately following on Summer, the rebuscos, after crop, are as a rule the most inferior varieties of arriba, whilst the Christmas harvest of the months of January and February (cosecha de Navidad) often yields quite excellent sorts.

2. Machála, second in importance among the Guayaquil sorts, rather more fatty than the ariba, and differing from this again in Aroma and the colour of its kernel, which is of a rather darker brown. Chief cultivation occurs in the low lying land bordering on Peru and lying opposite the island of Jambeli, where the prevailing climatic conditions are quite different from those in the arriba districts, although these are not far removed. August and September are the harvest months for Machala. Ten years ago this sort was shipped in large measure from the then newly created harbour Puerto Bolivar. But since large ocean going steamers no longer call there, it now takes the more roundabout route via Guayaquil.

3. Baláo. This variety can be described as a mean between Machala and Arriba. It has some of the characteristics of both, the bean being somewhat rounder.

4. Naranjal and Tenguél are likewise subdivisions of the foregoing, except that the bean is here much larger and flatter. As the production of all three sorts, and especially of Balao, is substantially greater than what finds its way to the market, we may reasonably assume that a large proportion is used for mixing purposes, and sails on commercial seas, as it were, under false colours. Cultivating district: the Machala district situated along the Jambeli canal, and the stretch of coast watered by the rivers Balao and Naranjal.

5. Pegados (i. e. stuck together) or Pelatos (balls) is the description of the cacaos comprised of series of 4-10 beans rolled together, generally developing from overripe fruit. They experience a particular kind of fermentation, apparently the result of the fruity substances still evident, which gives the light coloured kernels a soft aromatic flavour. For several years these sorts have rarely been seen on the European market, they being generally reserved for home consumption.

6. Oscuros, i. e. dark coloured, a refuse sort rightly viewed with suspicion in manufacturing circles—Pelotas soaked in water, or beans left in the clefts and fissures of the drying chamber floors.—The black shell of the bean encloses a brownish and dirty-looking kernel, the colour sometimes approaching black: the whole bean giving a disagreeable impression, as it is often disfigured with mould, and possessed of a disagreeable odour. For several years this variety served the “crooks” of the commercial world as mixing material for the so-called “flavouring” of Machala, but it now again appears as a distinct sort.

The shipping port for all these cacao sorts is Guayaquil; though other harbours also handle valuable varieties. Such, for example, are

a) Bahia de Caraquéz, and the small haven of Manta lying south of this town, which deals in a sort resembling a blended Machala-Balao, though occasionally light brown in appearance and of aromatic flavour. This cacao is generally labelled as Caraquéz for short, and is to be distinguished from Caraque, the French term for Caracas cacao.

The chief harvesting months are June and July; the April-May arrivals, however, are usually better, as the setting-in of the rainy season increases the difficulties of drying. The harvest in 1909 reached 3,000 tons, and is normally from 2000 to 5,000 tons yearly.

b) Esmeraldas, similar to the foregoing, but of perceptibly inferior output, possesses only a very insignificant yield (about 150 tons a year), and this in spite of the cultivating capacities of the interior.

Peru, the most southerly producing land on the west coast can likewise only boast of a very insignificant yield, chiefly destined for home consumption.

Brazil, with its two great sorts for consumption, Bahia and Para cacao, and a yearly production of round 33,000 tons, has from the years 1906-1909 far outrun all other harvesting lands. Yet although it was able to increase this to 36,250 tons in 1911 it must nevertheless take second place among cultivating lands, the Gold Coast and Ecuador preceding.

A most important factor on the market is included under the specification Bahia-cacao. Here again the shipping port has given its name to the cacao sort. It is harvested in three southerly situated districts, Ilheos, Belmonte, and Canavieiras, and is despatched to Bahia from harbours of the same name, in sailing vessel which sometimes ship a thousand sacks.

Ilheos despatches the inferior of the two principal varieties “Fair fermented” and “Superior fermented” that is, the first-named, and so furnishes two-thirds of the Bahia crop. The cacao areas in the district of Ilheos are situated on rather high and mountainous ground, where arresting atmospheric conditions often predominate. Also the absence of any waterway whatever renders it a necessity to despatch the cacao to Bahia on beasts of burden, which during the rainy season can scarcely find a footing on the beaten tracks. It is, then, the unfavourable atmospheric conditions, combined with a certain carelessness on the part of the planter in the preparing processes, which prejudices the otherwise excellent quality of the Bahia bean, and more especially in the months of June, July and August.

At this period it is no rarity to find from 10 to 20 percent of waste beans, and in general only the December-February months offer anything approaching a guarantee as to quality. But here no hard and fast rule can be adduced.

Belmonte and Canavieiras are the districts of the “Superior fermented” cacaos. The lower lay of the land is responsible for other climatic conditions, and in addition, both harbours here are situated at the mouths of rivers which afford an easy and sure means of transport. So the cacao, which is also better roasted,—a few planters even drying in ovens—reaches the market in a much better condition, and fetches at least from 3-4 sh. a cwt. more than the “Fair Fermented” variety.

In all three districts, the beans are prepared in wooden boxes, covered with banana skin, in which the Ilheos variety is allowed to ferment from 2-3 days, and the superior from 2-5 days: this after they have been well shaken up. In Belmonte considerable drying takes place on the sand there deposited by the river in large quantities.

The harvesting is generally reckoned from April 1st. to March 31st. In June and July is the intermediate harvest, whilst the months from October to February supply the bulkiest crops.

The Bahia district yields yearly about 33,500 tons, a fourth part of which is devoted to the consumption of the United States, the remainder chiefly going to Germany, France and Switzerland. The return is still on the increase, and large stretches of land await cultivation.

Para cacao is the denomination of all those sorts shipped from the tracts of land lying along the banks of the Amazon and its mighty tributaries, more especially from Manaos and Itacoatiara, through Para, a port situated on the eastern arm of the delta. These varieties may be classed as intermediary between Bahia and good Sumana. The yearly yield (harvest months June-August) amounts to about 5,000 tons, a comparatively small figure in view of the enormous expanses capable of planting, where the cacao tree at present grows wild, or at least uncultivated. It is true that the returns for 1891 reached 6,500; only to be diminished by half in 1908. France is by far the chief country consuming Para cacao; the sort not meeting with especial favour in other states.

Guiana. Of the three colonies belonging to France, Holland, and Great Britain respectively, which go under this name, only the intermediate one, Dutch Guiana, is of importance in the world’s cacao trade. It comes into consideration under the name of

Surinam cacao. The yield, which should in normal years amount to about 3,000 tons (1899 providing the record with approximately 4,000 tons), has been considerably impaired by tree diseases and parasites. The return for 1904 only amounted to 850 tons, for example. But meanwhile Holland had hit upon excellent measures to battle against the enemies of the tree, and the years 1909 and 1910 had in consequence already improved this to 2,000 tons. The bean has some resemblance to the Trinidad bean, as far as quality is concerned.

Venezuela, one of the earliest cultivating lands, is the home of the Criollo bean, and of the most splendid specimens of bean in general, sorts which play a prominent part in the Chocolate Manufacture. The Venezuelan bean is rather long and round, and its kernel of a beautiful light brown, with a mild sweet flavour. Unfortunately the plantations have recently been interspersed with Forastero or Trinidad-Criollo trees—called in Venezuela “Trinitarios because brought over from Trinidad, a species which requires less attention and bears more fruit, but which just on that account supplies commoner and mediocre beans, slowly fermenting, and often developing a violet hue. The preparation is here of the simplest; the beans e. g. are dried on clay-covered floors, and in rainy weather earthy fragments often adhere to them. Yet such “Patios” or “Then-dales”, (clay floors) are only in use on the small “haciendas” (plantations). The colouring of the Venezuelan bean with an ocre-like earth constitutes an especial peculiarity. It is adopted in particular for the medium and finer sorts. The earth is mostly sent from the neighbourhood of Choroni to the two large shipping ports Puerto Cabello and La Guayra, where the colouring or “Earthification” of the cacaos to be exported ensues. The earth, varying in colour from a dirty yellow to brick-red, is mixed to a thin paste with sea-water, and afterwards placed in the sun on large sieves, or spread over cement floors. Where the colouring takes place immediately on the plantation, the yellowish brown earth everywhere available is utilised; and where sea-water cannot be obtained, as on the Rio Tuy, for example, there the beans are coloured with a mixture prepared from crushed and almost liquid cacao fruits and this same yellowish brown earth, as the use of fresh water is thought to afford but inferior protection against mould growths. Such juice-coloured cacaos, and occasionally also the Ocumare sorts, are often covered with a rather thick earthy crust. Professional opinion concerning the utility of this colouring varies greatly. In France, the principal country consuming Venezuelan cacao, it is still maintained that the thin earthy crust not only enables the bean to resist the penetration of mildew, but also admits of a kind of after-fermentation, together with developement and preservation of the most valuable constituents of the cacao bean. Colouring is then the rule for the finer Caracas sorts, and all varieties shipped through Puerto Cabello; it is also in use at Carupano, for export to Spain.

The Venezuelan cacaos are divided as follows, and with one exception take their names from the chief shipping ports, to which they are brought in small sailing vessels tapping the villages dotted along the coast.

1. Maracaibo cacao, the noble, large, and always uncoloured bean found on the shore of Sea of Maracaibo.

2. Puerto Cabello, quite the finest of all cacao sorts, with the following sub-classes, each named after tiny harbours in the vicinity: Chuáo, Borburato, Chichiriviche, San Felipe (coloured with its own peculiar light brown earth) Ocumare, Choroni.

3. Caracas cacao, exceptionally so-called, although quite a small proportion, namely that brought over the mountains from the Rio Tuy district in donkey caravans, now touches the republican capital. La Guayra, rather, is the shipping port for the so-called Caracas sorts, to which belong all the cacaos from the fertile Barlavento district east of La Guayra, a region watered by two rivers, Rio Tuy and Rio Chico, and with the following outlets; Rio Chico (which gives its name to the most ordinary of sorts), Higuerote, and Capaya. The plantations hard on the mountainous coastal slopes produce a very fine bean, of equal value with the Puerto Cabello.

4. Carupano cacao, a sound Venezuelan medium sort, generally coming into use uncoloured; the arrivals from the easterly harbour Rio Caribe also belong to this sort, and also the cacaos of Irapa, Guiria, and Cano Colorado, often shipped from the port of Trinidad lying opposite.

From Angostura (Ciudad Bolivar) on the Orinoco and San Fernando on the Apure, only very insignificant quantities arrive.

They speak of a Christmas and a Summer (June 21st) harvest in Venezuela; but the first four months of the year are generally the most productive. The total produce of Venezuela amounts to about 16,000 tons, of which as export there fall to

C. The Antilles.

Trinidad produces a cacao which on many plantations, or estates, as they are called, receives preparation at the hands of experts, and is very highly esteemed in commerce, and especially in England and France. The best and generally slightly coloured sorts are specified as “Plantation”, the medium “Estates”, after the English name, and the inferior “Fair Trinidad shipping cacao The bean “Trinidad criollo” is oval, yet not so rounded as the Venezuelan; its kernel is for the most part dark-coloured, still brown in the better varieties, but inky black among the inferior. It is customary in Trinidad to trade the cacaos as prime specimens and to assign to them the name of a species which not infrequently furnishes no true indication of their origin. “Soconusco” and “San Antonio” are particularly high-sounding; mention can further be made of “Montserrat”, “La Gloria”, “Maraval”, “Belle Fleur”, “El Reposo” etc. Chief harvest, December to February inclusive, by-harvest May to August.

The total export from Trinidad amounts to about 22,500 tons yearly. The substantially smaller island of Grenada, also British, contributes about 6,000 tons a year to the world’s supply. Owing to the prevalence of like climatic and geological conditions, the yield and quality are here the same as on the neighbouring island of Trinidad. The chief consumer of the Grenada cacaos is the Motherland, and the same holds good for the small British islands of St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Dominique, all of little import in the general trade of the world.

Martinique-and Guadeloupe-cacaos, hailing from the French islands so named, with a yearly production varying from 5,000 to 7,500 tons, only come into consideration for the consumption of the Motherland, which affords them an abatement of 50 percent in connection with the tariffs. San Domingo, the larger and eastern part of the Haiti island, already contributes about 20,000 tons yearly to the universal harvest. Especially in the last ten years has the cacao cultivation here received considerable expansion (yield 1894 2,000 tons, 1904 13,500 tons) and as vast suitable tracts of land are to hand, this country would justify the highest expectations, if the general political and economical relations of the double republic and a certain indolence of the planters, all small farmers, had not to be allowed for.

A methodical preparation only seldom takes place. Processes are limited to a very necessary drying, as a rule, so that the cacao, excellent in itself, takes rank among the lowest as a commercial quality. The chief gatherings occur in the months of May, June and July. The shipping ports are Puerta Plata on the north-coast, Sanchez and Sumana on the Bight of Samana, and La Romana, San Pedro de Macoris and Santo Domingo (the capital) on the south coast. Tiny Samana, situated on a small tongue of land, and so outlet for no extensive region, has given its name to Domingo cacao as a commercial sort, as from here the first shipments were dispatched.

Sanchez cacao, so named because Sanchez, where the transports come from the fruitful district of Cibao as far as La Vega, is the chief exporting harbour of the republic. From the same district, starting at Santiago, there is yet another line, this time running northwards to Puerto Plata on the coast. The cacao of this northerly province of Cibao is generally held in higher esteem than that coming from the southern harbours.

The United States, which have recently developed an interest in the land for political reasons, have been promoted to first place among its customers during the last few years; and then follow France and Germany. It can only be hoped that this influence grows, in view of the thereby doubtlessly accelerated improvements in the preparation processes. Up to the present, varieties free from blame are conspicuously rare. Uniformity as regards the weight of the sacks has not been possible, owing to the diversity of the means of transport. Districts lying along the railways, or close to the harbours, make use of 80-100 kg. sacks (about 176-220 lbs.) But where transport must be made on beasts of burden, sacks of from 65-70 kilos (143-154 lbs.) are the rule.

Haiti cacao, coming from the Negro republic of the same name, is the most inferior of all commercial sorts, chiefly on account of the incredibly neglective preparation which it undergoes, for exceptions prove that the bean is capable of being developed into a very serviceable cacao. Beans covered with a thick gray coloured earthy crust, often even mixed with small pebbles and having a gritty, and where healthy, black-brown beaking kernel. The “Liberty and Equality” of the Negros and Mulattos in this corrupted republic are mirrored in its plantation system, the land being cultivated but little, and running almost wild. To effect a change in this state of affairs, that island law must first of all be abolished, whereby every stranger is prevented from acquiring landed estate in Haiti.

The yield, about 2,500 tons, is chiefly exported from Jérémic, then also from the harbours Cap Haitien, Port de Paix, Petit Goave, and Port au Prince. France and the United States are the principal customers. The neighbouring island of

Cuba also delivers the greater part of its cacao produce to the United States, amounting to between 1,000 and 3,000 tons, a fact explained by geographical, political and freight considerations.

Thanks to its careful preparation, this bean, which resembles the Domingo in many respects, is preferred, and fetches a correspondingly higher price. The shipping port is Santiago de Cuba, situated in the south-eastern portion of the island.

Jamaica, with its yearly harvest of about 2,500 tons, principally attends to the wants of the Mother Country.

II. African Cacao Varieties.

Cacao cultivation in Africa is of comparatively recent date. The plantations found on the three islands San Thomé and Principe (Portuguese), and Fernando Po (Spanish), lying in the Gulf of Guinea, are the oldest. To the first-named island may be traced much of the impulse given to cacao plantation in other African districts, so rapid has been its success here, under the energetic guidance of the skilful Portuguese planter, and the yet more effective propitious climatic influences and favourable industrial conditions.

Rare sorts are nowhere to be met with, for the Forastero bean has conquered the whole of Africa. The sorts produced are accordingly rather adapted for general consumption. St. Thomas and the Gold Coast provide a third of the world’s present-day cacao supply, and in the English colony especially, the geological and climatic conditions are of such a kind, that the

Gold Coast might very well become to the raw cacao market of the future what the Brazilian province, San Paulo, is now to the coffee trade.

In the middle of the “Eighties”, the Swiss Missionary Society planted in the vicinity of their station, and so started the cultivation of the cacao tree now flourishing throughout the land. The first fruits came to Europe in 1891, and in 1894 already totalled 20 tons. In 1901 it was 1,000 tons, 1906 approaching 10,000 tons, and the year 1911 provided the record with about 40,000 tons. It is true that complaints were long and rightly lodged concerning the inferior quality, due to carelessness on the part of the natives in conducting the processes of preparation. But since the year 1909, there have appeared on the market side by side with the inferior and so-called current qualities, which still retains more or less of the defects of the earlier produce, another and properly fermented cacao, in no mean quantities; it is very popular in all cacao-consuming lands, and fetches from 2 to 3 shillings per cwt. more than the current qualities. All this has been achieved through intelligent and sympathetic guidance and control of the small native planter on the government’s part, without resource to any large organised plantation system.

Accra cacao, then, as the sorts of the African Gold Coast are collectively named, also promises to be the cacao of the future, if it can maintain its quantitative and qualitative excellence. There is indeed no want of soil and adequate labour strength in that province. Apart from Accra, Addah, Axim, Cape Coast Castle, Prampram, Winebah, Saltpond, Secondi must be mentioned above all. The chief harvest is from October to February.

Togo, the small German colony adjoining the British Gold Coast, has till now had only a yearly yield of 250 tons in a variety resembling Accra. The excellent beans prepared on the plantations fetch several shillings a cwt. more than Accra, whilst the deliveries of the natives rank below the current specimens of this sort. Its port is Lome.

Lagos, the British Colony bordering on Dahomey and east of the Gold Coast, is watered by the Niger and possesses cacao exporting ports in Lagos, Bonni and Old Calabar, and exports about 4,000 tons of a sort resembling Accra, but nevertheless not so well prepared and so of inferior value.

The cacao plantations of the Lagos colony,—more properly known as Southern Nigeria—lie on either side of the great Niger delta, in low lying land where the climatic and geological conditions are quite different from those in the neighbouring German possession of

Kameroon, in which country steep slopes and the narrow coastal strip at the foot of the Kameroon range, lofty mountains, perhaps 13,000 ft. high, constitute the cacao cultivating region. Consequently the same variety of seed, the Forastero, here produces a different kind of fruit. The Kameroon bean has its own peculiar characteristics; although there is some resemblance to that produced on the opposite islands of Fernando Po, Principe, and St. Thomas; and the milder sorts from the “Victoria” and “Moliwa” plantations often do duty as a substitute for the latter variety. There is no other bean which contains so much acid as the Kameroon, and although this statement must be modified in view of improvements in recent years, the fact prevents the largest of German colonial sorts from serving as any other than a mixing variety.

Cultivation is the rule throughout Kameroon, with the exception of Doula, and the produce of the separate plantations, such as Victoria, Bibundi, and Moliwe, Bimbia, Debundscha and so forth, all of which belong to large Berlin and Hamburg companies, is influenced and differentiated by variations in the technique of preparation. There are smooth beans with blackish-brown shells, and others of a red-brown hue and shrivelled, some with traces of fruit pulp, and others again quite light-coloured, with occasional black specks resulting from a too thorough drying.

The chief gathering begins in September and ends in January. Exportation began in the year 1899 with 5 cwts. The produce in 1898 figured at 200 tons and it had in the year 1910 grown to 3,500 tons. Germany is of course the principal consumer, although England has since 1909 bought very much Kameroon cacao as St. Thomas.

Kongo is a bean resembling the finer St. Thomas, but smaller and often smoky. It comes on the market via Antwerp. Up to the present French Congo has only produced a few thousand hundredweights yearly, but the Belgian Congo Free State has managed to achieve an annual output of 900 tons towards the close of the last decade; and when this country takes the Gold Coast as model, perhaps Congo cacao will one day play an important rôle in the world of commerce.

St. Thomas, the small Portuguese island lying in the Gulf of Guinea, and almost on the Equator, produces a sort which enjoys immense popularity, and especially in Germany, which traces a fourth part of its consumption back to this island. The export figures are

These are estimates which make the Portuguese planter worthy of all respect. It is true that “Black ivory” has been utilised on a large scale, the exploiting of black labour having resulted in a boycotting of these St. Thomas sorts on the part of some English manufacturers, but less on account of harsh treatment on the plantations themselves as the manner of recruiting in Angola.

Fine Thomas is the description of those sorts which have been used in an unmixed condition owing to their indigestibility, but properly gathered and fermented. The inferior and slightly damaged cacaos picked out from these are called by the Portuguese planter “Escolas”, or assorted. Yet they do not come into commerce under this designation, being mostly used for making up sample collections which illustrate the difference between these and Fine Thomas. The latter is traded through Lisbon “On Approval of Sample

All the St. Thomas cacao trade passes through Lisbon; for the tariff regulations of the Portuguese government make direct connection between the island and the consuming land practically impossible. France indeed chooses the route via Madeira, unloading and reloading, to avoid the additional duties. The cacao is at Lisbon stored in the two great Custom-houses there, and prepared for despatch to the respective lands. Fine St. Thomas is reshipped in the original sacks.

The samples are offered under various marks, either the initials of the planter or the name of a plantation. We mention a few of the best known; U. B., D. V., R. O., “M. Valle Flor”, “Boa Entrada”, “Monte Café”, “Santa Catarina”, “Pinheira”, “Agua Izé”, “Colonia Acoriana”, “Queluz”, “Gue Gue”, “Rosema”, “Pedroma”, “Monte Macaco

The beans vary, as far as shell and kernel are concerned, according to the mode of preparation on the plantations and the structure of the soil from which they spring. Many which were formerly universally esteemed are now no longer preferred because the soil in the meantime has been worked out; and many are now described under different marks. Yet particular characteristics still continue; there are mild and strong sorts, smooth and shrivelled varieties which look as though they have been washed, and others black like the Cameroon bean. All are offered as Fine Thomas, and enjoy an immense popularity.

Good medium Thomas is the commercial designation of those cacaos hailing from small plantations which have undergone a scarcely sufficient preparation owing to the lack of proper apparatus, and which are always interspersed with black or sham beans. In so far as these are delivered from large plantations, they generally owe their origin to overripe fruit, probably overlooked in the gathering season; or fruits bitten by the rats which infest this island may also contribute such beans. Almost all these inferior cacaos are sorted in the Lisbon custom-houses, and thinned down to the quality “Medium Thomas” free from objection or “Good Medium Thomas The two months of the Summer harvest, July and August, supply a somewhat better variety of cacao, known in commerce as “Pajol”, i. e. literally, “Hailing from the country”, which generally fetches a rather higher price. During the Winter harvest from November to February the medium St. Thomas varieties come on the market, but not before the beginning of the year, as previous to that point of time only the regular harvest of Fine St. Thomas comes into consideration. All attempts on the part of consumers to effect an improvement in the quality of the medium varieties have unfortunately hitherto proved abortive, for they are regarded as by-produce on the larger estates, and the small ones do not possess the apparatus necessary for a thorough preparation. Then again it is seen that these inferior sorts are taken off the market at very reasonable prices.

Fernando Po, a mountainous island, situated immediately off Cameroon, may be regarded as a source of supply for the Motherland, Spain, and only as such, for its yearly output of 2500 tons need fear no competition, thanks to the excessive tariffs laid on the produce of other lands here. The qualities here are inferior to those from St. Thomas and Cameroon, chiefly because most plantation are in the hands of blacks and consequently not well managed.

German East Africa, Madagascar, Mayotta (Comoren) and Réunion with their dwarfish yield are only worthy of passing mention.

III. Asiatic Cacao Sorts.

The only cacao plantations deserving the name on the continent of Asia are those occurring on the two islands of Ceylon and Java, both producing a sort differing entirely from the Africans, the predominant seedling here planted being the Trinidad-Criollo. The Ceylon-Java bean is, like the genuine Criollo, oval shaped, inclining to a sphere; its kernel is light brown and among the finer sorts even whitish. So both varieties are principally used for colouring and covering the cacao mass, for neither has a very pronounced flavour. The shell is light brown or reddish brown after washing, and appears free from all traces of pulp. It sits loosely on the kernel, at least in the case of the Java bean, and is consequently often met with broken.

Ceylon, with the shipping port of Colombo, produces in a good year from 3,500 to 4,000 tons, about two-thirds of which are traded through London. Direct shipments to Germany have recently been more and more frequent; Australia also claims consideration as a consuming land.

The different sorts, or rather, qualities, for a very careful preparation ensures the excellence of the goods, go under the description fine, or medium, or ordinary, and occasionally are utilised as typical examples. The better sorts come exclusively from plantations, and the ordinary are the result of native enterprise.

Java also produces a large quantity, the cacao here being chiefly planted on the north side of this long, narrow island. More than a half is exported from the port of Samarang, then follow Batavia, Soerabaja and a few minor places, with a total output of about 2,500 tons. The larger proportion of this cacao is sold in the markets of Amsterdam and Rotterdam to Dutch merchants, who pass it on to other consuming countries. England, North America, Australia, China and the Philippines are the chief customers.

Those sorts coming from the neighbouring islands of Celebes, Timor, Bali, Amboina and Lombok may also be considered as sub-classes of the Java; but they do not total more than 75 tons.

IV. Australian Cacao Sorts.

Cacao plantation in Australia is still in its early stages. Most progressive is

Samoa, which has increased its 1900 export of 30 cwt. to 200 tons at the present time, among which right excellent qualities occur, culled from Criollo trees. The deteriorated Forastero has also recently been planted, which we must allow to be more fruitful and less dependent on careful nursing. The Samoa Criollo bean resembles the large fine Ceylon variety, except that it has a more pronounced flavour.

New Guinea and Bismarck-Archipelagoes can only claim casual mention as experimentally interested in cacao cultivation.

g) The Trade in Cacao and the Consumption of Cacao Products; Statistics.

Although cacao and cacao products have always been held in the highest esteem, ever since they first became known in Europe, yet price considerations long prevented them from enjoying the same widespread popularity among the lower classes as tea and coffee. Thanks, however, to the improved means of transport established in the course of the last fifty years, which has cheapened all exotic produce, the demand for these wares has of late been more frequent and urgent, and is reflected in the constantly increasing influx of cacao on the European markets and the systematic opening out of new regions to the raw material, just as corresponding extensions in the factory world contribute towards a reduction in the cost of the products. Hence cacao may now be described as a luxury within the reach of everyman. Its diffusion among all grades of the population may be regarded as a great blessing, for in it has arisen a new [Transcriber’s Note: a line is missing here] merely a stimulant, like tea or coffee, but a beverage in the proper sense of the term, analytically so established.

It will accordingly prove of interest to glance through the returns in connection with the trade in these goods, their importation and exportation, commercial values of the same, and the relative consumption of cacao, tea and coffee.

Such figures are always at hand. The surprisingly rapid growth of the cacao cultivation, and the manufacture of cacao products, is e. g. at once apparent in statistics furnished by the French government. In 1857 the number of 5,304,207 kilos of beans were consumed there. The importations of the year 1895, on the other hand, amounted to 32,814,724 kilos, having in the space of 38 years increased more than sixfold. Of this quantity, almost the half, comprising about 15,234,163 kilos, is disposed of retail.

Turning to the trade in Germany, the cacao industry here and its consumption,[19] we are again greeted with cheery prospects. According to the official inquiry, German trade in Cacao products for the years 1907-1910 is shown in the following table:

Table 1.

The year 1910 brought a total import of 878,413 cwts. of raw cacao, thus overtopping the figures of the previous year, which had created a record with 814,496 cwts., by 64,330 cwts.

Coming to the geographical distribution, we find that they were imported into Germany in the following proportions, namely:

These figures, which we quote from the Thirty First Year’s Report of the Association of German Chocolate Makers, speak volumes for the recent development of the cacao trade. It is interesting, in view of recent occurrences, to note the quantities despatched from the various places. The importations from St. Thomas, for instance, show a striking increase. They stand at the head of the raw cacao products coming into Germany, with 239,756 cwts., and have pushed Accras down to second place, this variety having failed to maintain its 1909 lead, for 1910 did not add more than 6,496 cwts. to its previous total of 199,686 cwts. Bahias came third, then as now, with 128,760 cwts. This order has not always remained constant, but has suffered considerable deviations in progressive years. We give below a table showing the chief cacao producing lands and their imports into Germany between 1900 and 1908.

Table 2. Imports in Germany in tons.

The consumption of cacao in other civilised countries shows a corresponding increase, although with occasional divergencies and astounding relapses. We give the following table (3) to indicate its progress between the years 1901 and 1908, and to facilitate comparison.

It must be borne in mind, when making use of this table (specially in connection with Germany) that the falling off in the years 1907-8 is to be attributed to the abnormally bad harvests and consequent increase in prices.

Table 3. Import or Consumption in the Various Lands in tons.

The relative consumption of coffee, tea and cacao has also inclined in favour of the latter as far as Germany is concerned. According to the 19th. Report of the Association of German Chocolate Makers, No. 7, the imports which passed through the custom-houses of that country, and intended for consumption, figured at the following in tons; though in this connection it is as well to remember that the German ton is about 50 lbs. less than the English.

From the above columns it will be seen that the importation of coffee has only increased 24 percent, that of tea 125 percent, but that of cacao at the surprising rate of 330 percent. A comparison of the totals for coffee, tea and cacao in the years 1886, 1898 & 1906 will make the proportions still more evident.

So that whilst in the year 1886 thirty-five times as much coffee as cacao found its way into Germany, the imports for 1898 were ten, and in 1906 only five and a half times greater in the case of the first named article. It follows that there has been a corresponding increase as regards cacao consumption in Germany. A momentary survey of the graphs in Fig. 5, which we owe to the kindness of Herr Greiert, Managing Director of the Association of German Chocolate Manufacturers, will make this clear to the reader; and the diagram there illustrates the relative growth of cacao consumption in Germany, when compared with other countries. On calculating the quantity of cacao consumed per head of the population, we get a graph (fig. 6) which puts the rapid increases in this direction at a glance.

Fig. 5. (the german text is [here]).

Fig. 6. Graphical representation per head of the population for the last 75 years.

The curve for the last ten years represents enormous advances, and contrasts with the more even line developed in earlier years. According to official reports, the average consumption of cacao per head between the years 1861-5 amounted to 0·03 kg. (tea 0·02 kg. and coffee 1·87 kg.) but had in 1910 risen to an average of 0·53 kg. per head.

B. Chemical Constitution of the Bean.

a) The Cacao Bean Proper.

Just as the beans of the cacao fruit are included under the botanical concept “Seed”, so also their chemical constituents closely resemble those common to every other seed. There are the usual reserve stuffs inherited from the mother plant, which serve as sustenance for the yet undeveloped organs, and compare with albumen in the feathered world. Apart from the constituents incidental to all plant life at this stage, such as albumin, starch, water, fat, sugar, cellulose and mineral stuffs such as ash, the cacao seed has two other components peculiar to itself; Theobromine and Cacao-red. We adjoin a succession of chemical determinations respecting the quantitative proportions of these substances in the seed, and think further that we may be allowed to cite the results of fore-time investigators in this sphere, especially as their work has formed the basis for all future operations, and again, in view of the doubt which still prevails in scientific circles as to the “Normal” composition of the cacao bean.

Table 4.
Percentage Composition of the Hulled Bean.

Table 5.

The analyses carried out by Zipperer in the year 1886 yielded the following results[21]:

Table 6.
A) Analysis of the Raw Shelled Bean (Kernel).

In addition to these, there is an exhaustive succession of analyses conducted by Ridenour,[22] which we accordingly submit as Table 8. Following Filsinger,[23] we cannot regard these analyses as an absolutely trustworthy representation of the “Normal” composition of the cacao bean, the values in starch, albumin and ash considerably deviating from all that have been established up to the present time. Among more recent researches, we cite those carried out by Matthes and Fritz Müller.[24]

Table 7.
B) Analysis of the Raw Shelled Bean (Kernel).

Table 8. Ridenour.

Table 9.

Table 10. Commoner Varieties.

Key to Column Headings

• C; Moisture
• D; Ether extract
• E; Mineral matter
• F; Potassium Carbonate reckoned on alkali soluble in water
• G; Pure ash (mineral matter minus K₂CO₃)
• Ha; according to König, as modified by us
• Hb; as yielded by the Wender process
• I; Silicic acid (SiO₂)
• J; Ferric oxide (Fe₂O₃)
• K; Soluble in alcohol P₂O₅

Table 11. Analysis of Cacao.
Dry product, defatted and free from alkali.

Key to Column Headings

• C; Defatted and alkali-free dry products
• D; Pure ash (mineral substances less K₂CO₃)
• E; Ash insoluble in water
• F; Alkalinity of the insoluble ash Nitric acid
• Ga; total
• Gb; soluble in water
• Gc; insoluble in water
• H; Silicic acid (SiO₂)
• I; Ferric oxide (Fe₂O₃)
• J; P₃O₅ soluble in alcohol
• K; after König (modified)
• L; as yielded by the Weender process

1) See Table 9 A and Table 10.

The foregoing tables provide us with a general idea of the chemical constituents of the cacao bean, but their distinctive properties, both chemical and physical, still remain to be defined, with which we accordingly proceed, as such data will on the one hand enable us to grasp how loss may be avoided in the manufacture of cacao and chocolate wares, and at the same time render intelligible familiar processes connected therewith.

As we have seen, the following substances occur in cacao in varying amounts:

• 1. Water.
• 2. Fat.
• 3. Cacao-red.
• 4. Theobromine.
• 5. Albumen.
• 6. Starch.
• 7. Cellular tissue or cellulose.
• 8. Small percentages of grape and cane sugar.
• 9. Mineral or ash stuffs.

Like the majority of plants and plant products, the cacao bean consists of vesicles or cells, closed on all sides and arranged in a series of layers. They are constructed of cellular tissue or cellulose, and contain fat, albumen, water, starch, theobromine, cacao pigment, besides sugar and salts in inferior quantities.

1. Water or Moisture.

There is present in the bean from 6 to 8 percent of water, a factor which bodes well for the proper germination of the seed, as when this latter is deprived of moisture, e. g. in the course of a too thorough drying, it speedily decays. Water is still evident in small quantities even in the largest and almost withered beans, as will be seen on comparison of the foregoing analyses.

2. Fat.

As a constituent at the expense of which respiration is effected, fat remains one of the most important resources of plant. It has a twofold excellence in this connection, and firstly as a highly calorifacient and carboniferous substance, and again because such a reserve enables the living organism to oxidise with particular ease, wherefore it is found accumulated in somewhat significant measure in the majority of seeds. When seen under the microscope it appears either as round coherent masses, or as crystalline aggregates clearly distinguishable from the rest of the cell contents on treatment with a solution of osmic acid. The fat in the cacao bean usually amounts to from 50-56 percent, or one half of the total weight of the shelled beans; the shell also contains from 4 to 5 percent of fat.[25] The unfermented bean has frequently, in addition to its bitter taste, a most unpleasant flavour, attributable to the rancidity of its fatty contents.

The raw bean contains rather more fat than the roasted bean, for whilst the one averages from 50 to 55 percent, there is seldom more than 48-52 percent in the other. The cause of this phenomenon may be connected with the enrichment of the shells in fat, and in some instances, as when the beans are over-roasted, is to be ascribed to the chemical change which the play of burning heat on fatty bodies involves, when a destructive decomposition of the whole ensues, with formations of acroleine. Chemically considered, cacao butter consists of a mixture of so-called esters, or compounds connected with ether, such as the glycerides of fatty acids, and contains, in addition to stearine, palmatine, and laurine[26], the glyceride of arachidic acid. It was also formerly supposed that formic, acetic and butyric acids were among the constituents of this ingredient, but the view has been proved erroneous by Lewkowitsch[27]; similarly, the presence of theobromic acid alleged by Kingzett[28] has been called into question by Graf.[29]

Cacao butter is a fairly firm fat of pleasant taste and smell, which varies in colour between yellowish white and yellow. When freshly expressed, it has frequently a brownish shade, passing after a short time into a pale yellow, and turning almost white on long keeping. The brown colour is due to pigment in suspension, which becomes sediment in the course of melting, when the butter asumes a normal colour, referrible to pigment dissolved in the butter oils, and secondarily to a dissolution of the products of roasting in these liquids, rather than to any matter in suspension. The pleasant smell and taste of cacao butter is probably closely allied to the dissolved substances mentioned.

The fat extracted from cacao by solvents differs essentially from that obtained by hydraulic pressure, a fact overlooked in some of even the most recent experiments, and which therefore cannot be too strongly emphasised. Extracted fat is yellowish white, sometimes approximating to grey, and after having been kept a long time, the whole becomes tinged with an actual whiteness, which first attacks the outer surface, and then rapidly progresses towards the centre in concentric paths, and which is a sign of rancidity. Its fracture is partly granular, the smell is not so pronounced as that of expressed fat, being even unpleasant at times, as in the case of faulty wares (but compare page), and it has a keen taste. Cacao butter does not, as is generally supposed, keep better than other vegetable fats, but is equally liable to become rancid, as Lewkowitsch[30] demonstrates. By rancidity is denoted that state of offensive taste and smell acquired by fatty substances on longer or shorter keeping and especially when they are not properly stored. What chemical re-arrangements of the respective constituents this state presupposes is very questionable; though it appears from the experiments of Lewkowitsch[30] and others[31] that the formation of acids does not play as prominent a part as the experimenter is inclined to think, nothwithstanding the marked increase in quantity which may occur. The primary cause of rancidity will rather be found in the oxidation products of the glycerine contained in all fats.

The specific gravity of cacao butter varies considerably, according as it has been expressed or extracted by means of solvents. White[32] asserts that it can only be determined when the liquefied oil has been solidified several days. According to Rammsberger the specific gravity of expressed butter is 0·85; that of butter extracted by treatment with ether figures at 0·958. Hager gives the normal specific gravity of fresh cacao butter at 15° C. as from 0·95 to 0·952; stale butter 0·945 to 0·946, and the same figures have been confirmed by other investigations, though Dietricht gives 0·98 to 0·981 at 100° C. The melting point is generally regarded as 33° C.; there is in this respect, however, a great difference between the two descriptions of fat. Expressed fat which has been kept for some length of time melts between 34° C. and 35° C., and these figures remain constant, so that it is advisable to read the melting point of fat which has been in store some time rather than that of the fresh pressed product, and take this as a standard. All other fat shows a lower melting point.

As the melting point of freshly melted cacao butter shows considerable fluctuation, the liquid fat must be kept in darkness and cooled with ice for about a week, and the reading should not be taken before the expiration of this time, as only then is it possible to obtain any definite and final result.

Experiments on the melting point of cacao butter as carried out by Zipperer under special conditions yielded the following values; cf. also Table 12.

White and Oldham[33] give the following melting points:

Filsinger and Henking found[34]:

These results vary somewhat, but the differences are to be ascribed to the methods employed and to the manner in which the observations of different experimenters are carried out. Generally it may be taken that the melting point should not be under 3° or over 35°C. The fat solidifies between 21·5° and 23° C. (solidifying point). The fatty acids from the fat melt at 48°-52° C.; they begin to solidify at 45° C., the solidifying ending generally at 51°-52° C. (see table 12).

Adulteration of cacao fat, as many experiments have shown, cannot be detected simply by deflections in the melting point. Björklund’s ether test,[35] which is very suitable for the detection of an admixture of extraneous substances like tallow, wax and paraffin, is carried out as described in paragraph....

Cacao fat, like all other fats, is saponified by alkalis, that is to say, forms a soap or a chemical compound of the fatty acids with alkalis such as potash, soda, ammonia etc. On the addition of a mineral acid to the soap a salt of the mineral acid and alkali is formed, with the separation of the fatty acid. The fatty acids are of two kinds:

1. The volatile acids or those which are volatile at 100°-110° C. or more easily with steam than other vapours. These usually exist only in very small quantity in cacao fat but may considerably increase in amount in the fat obtained from imperfectly fermented beans.[36]

2. The solid fatty acids are such as are fixed, and do not act in the manner above mentioned: cacao butter consists chiefly of the glycerides of these acids.

Björklund’s tests will only detect, as has been stated, admixtures of wax, paraffin, tallow and bodies of a relatively high melting point. Another method must therefore be adopted to detect fat of low melting points, as cocoa-nut fat, or liquid oils like cotton seed and sesame oils. The methods in use in connection with cacao butter are the determination of the iodine, saponification and acid values, finding the melting point of the fatty acids, the Reichert-Meissl number, and by means of Zeiss’ butyro-refractometer, its refractive index.

The iodine value indicates the amount of iodine percent absorbed by the fat, and is accordingly a measure of the unsaturated fatty acids. As these latter differ in amount in vegetable and animal fats, though constant for each separate kind, it is possible by means of this iodine value to recognise a genuine cacao fat and to detect adulteration. The determination of the iodine value is carried out by Hulbl’s[37] method, and according to Filsinger,[38] it is advisable to let the iodine solution act on the fat for from ten to twelve hours in diffused daylight. Before determining the iodine value in cacao fat, says Welmans[39] this substance should be dried at from 100-105°C. to expel the acroleine produced by too high roasting, at the same time avoiding too high a temperature, as acroleine can then be very easily reproduced. Filsinger has determined the iodine value of many varieties of cacao butter with the following results:

Genuine cacao butter shows an average iodine value of from 33-37·5.[40]

The saponification value or Köttstorfer’s number[41] expresses the number of milligrammes of potassium hydrate required for the complete saponification of 1 gramme of fat, or in other words, the amount of potassium hydrate necessary to the saponification of the fat in thents percent. Filsinger[42] gives the amount as between 192 and 202 in genuine cacao butter, although it usually fluctuates between 194 and 195. Its determination is the means of detecting adulterations with cocoa-nut butter and its preparations.

The determination of the acid value has lately become of importance, especially since the introduction of the so-called Dutch Ha cacao or shell butter, which is obtained from cacao refuse and is often rancid. This value or number expresses the amount of potassium hydrate necessary to neutralise the free fatty acids in 1 gramme of fat, and it is therefore a measure of the amount of free fatty acid. As this constant has been variously stated, according to the methods adopted (Burstyn, Merz), the fact must be taken into account when comparing the literature on the subject. As the constants have been determined by two different methods (Merz, Burstyn), this must be taken into consideration when comparing the various data on the acid value of fats. Whilst the “Vereinbarungen” (No. 1, 1897) in a chapter on “Food Fats and Oils” still recognise two distinct methods in the determination of free fatty acids, as well as two different ways of recording the results (degree of acidity and free acid, calculated on the oily acids) there occurs in the supplement to the recent margarine code for Germany issued by the Chancellor on April 1st. 1898, entitled “Instructions for chemical research in fats and cheeses” under c) a dictum that there is only one absolute and precise procedure in the “Determination of free fatty acids (degree of acidity) These calculations are based on the Burstyn method, which we accordingly annex, more especially as it is now in universal use. It should be observed that the method of preparation and the age of the beans, as well as that of the fat all tend to increase the acid value.

The Reichert Meissl value expresses the percentage value of the volatile fatty acids present in the fat; as already mentioned, they amount to 1·6 ccm, in cacao fat extracted by solvents. Milk chocolate, says Welmans, yields a fat having a Reichert-Meissl value of 2·5, but compare page....

The determination of the refractive index in Zeiss butyrorofractometer is of value for ascertaining the purity of cacao butter, and it serves as a control on the iodine value, for according to Roques[43] the refractive index and the iodine value stand in equal relation, so that fat having a high refractive index gives a high iodine value and vice versa. The refractive index of cacao butter ranges between 1·4565-1·4578 at 40°C. corresponding to 46-47·8 on the scala of the Zeiss butyro-refractometer. The use of the latter is recommended by Filsinger as a preliminary test for cacao butter, since with a normal refraction it is not necessary to proceed further and determine the iodine, saponification and acid values, nor the melting point. In conclusion we annex table 12, where the respective constants for different varieties of cacao butter will be found tabulated.[44]

For further information on all these methods, the reader is referred to the excellent work of R. Benedict, entitled “Analysis of Fats and Waxes”: VII. Edition, Berlin.

Table 12.
Physical and Chemical Analyses of the Various Kinds of Pressed Stollwerck Cacao Butter.

Remarks 1) Exact point of liquefaction difficult to observe; therefore the average of several readings must be taken.

2) Work from the Imperial Office of Health 1907, 26, 444-463.

3) Work out of the Imperial Office of Health 1904, 20, 545-558.

4) Central Journal for Germany 1908, 36, 100.

5) Journal for Popular Chemistry 1907, 16, 308.

6) Obtained at the expiration of a four weeks’ treatment as recommended by Erlenmeyer.

7) Non-volatile fatty acids, insoluble in water, from the determination of the Reichert-Meissl number.

8) Obtained as under a). Freezing Point in various cases, 1 to 8 equals 47·8—Melting Point minus Freezing Point: 52·3-47·8 4·5.

We have already stated that there is also cacao fat in the shells, and though it only amounts to some four or five percent, it has long been the care of experimenters to recover and realise that little as fully as possible. It is commercially known as Dutch IIa or artificial cacao butter, and cannot be obtained like the fat of the kernel by mechanical means, but is obtained by some cheap solvent like benzene. The traces of benzene are very difficult to hide, and consequently this shell butter has little commercial value and its manufacture is unremunerative.

Filsinger[45] gives the iodine value of shell butter as higher than that of kernel butter, and fixes it between 39 and 40: its acid value, especially if the fat is rancid, can reach 50-60° Burstyn, i. e. 50 to 60 ccm. normal alkali for 100 grammes of fat.[46] If the free acid of shell butter be counteracted with sodium or magnesium carbonate, the neutral fat then has the normal iodine value of pure cacao butter, namely 36·5. In a sample giving an abnormally high iodine value it is always necessary to determine the acid value, and if the latter be too high, the fatty acids must be removed, when if the sample be unadulterated, the normal iodine value will be obtained. It may be noted in passing that the high acid values occurring in shell butter may be due in part to the acidity of the benzene employed as a solvent.

Cacao butter has a considerable commercial value, and is consequently liable to adulteration with many inferior fats of vegetable origin. Among these are especially beef and mutton tallow, the purified fatty acids of palm-nut oil, wax, paraffin, stearic acid, dicka fat (nucoa butter, possibly) and cocoa-nut fat, as well as the numerous preparations of the last named, variously known in commerce as Mannheim cocoa-nut butter, vegetaline, lactine, finest plant butter, chocolate butter, laureol vegetable butter, palmin, kunerol etc. Other but less commoner are the sesame cotton-seed, arachidic, margarine and hazelnut oils.

For the detection of these and similar adulterates, the reactions and analytical methods described are all-sufficient. Benedict[47] discovers that the presence of wax and paraffin considerably diminishes the saponification value, cocoa, nut fat increases it and lowers the iodine value, whereas stearic acid raises the acid value.

The presence of cocoa-nut fat can also be shown by the etherification of the fatty acids with alcohol and sulphuric acid, when the characteristic odour of the ester of cocoa-nut acid occurs. Vegetable oils, such as almond, cotton-seed, arachidic, sesame and hazelnut oils, lower the melting point of the fatty acids and raise the iodine value. Sesame oil is easily detected by Baudouin’s reaction, yielding a raspberry coloration whilst pure cacao butter keeps a fine yellow or dark brown. It is possible to detect the presence of so minute a quantity as 1% of sesame oil, by means of Baudouin’s reaction.

The following table, containing the analytical determinations of all fatty substances which can possibly be employed in the adulteration of cacao butter, will serve to facilitate reference to this subject.

In addition to its use in the manufacture of certain cacao preparations and for lubricating parts of machinery which come into contact with the cacao etc. cacao fat is also used in perfumery and especially in pharmacy for making suppositaries, ointments, etc., but it is of no importance in soap making. As an edible fat, in the true sense of the word, like ordinary butter or lard, cacao butter is not used. It has been maintained by Benedikt[48] that when in the form of chocolate it is as easily digestible in the human organism as milk fat, which is generally regarded as offering most favourable conditions for absorbtion in the intestinal canal. The digestibility of both fats varies from 92·3 to 95·38 percent, and both, in this respect, stand very near to cocoa-nut fat from which the solid glycerides have been removed, and to ordinary butter, the former according to Bourot and Jean.[49] being digestible to the extent of 98 and the latter 95·8 percent.

Cacao butter is obtained as a by-product in the preparation of cocoa powder and in every country where cocoa powder is produced there is always a large trade in the former article. That is, apart from Germany, especially the case in Holland, where the monthly supply to the Amsterdam market is so large that during 1899 one firm alone—Van Houten—had 855 tons for sale. The average price of late years has considerably increased, and is now about 64-73 cents per kilogramme.

3. Cacao-red or Pigment.

The majority of investigators interested in the cacao bean have assigned its peculiar aroma and taste to the cacao-red which it develops. As previously pointed out, the young fresh bean is colourless, the pigment forming later, as can be observed in many vegetable colouring materials, such as oakand cinchona-red, madder, indigo and kola-nut red (from Sterculia acuminata). As the later investigations of Hilger[50] have shown, the fresh colourless cacao bean contains a diastasic ferment, as well as a glucoside body, which C. Schweitzer[51] has termed glocoside or cacaonin. The term glucoside may be noted in passing as including those bodies, the greater number of which occur in plants, and which by treatment with alkalis, acids or ferments are split up into an indifferent body and a sugar, generally glucose. These bodies may be chemically regarded as ethyl derivatives of the respective sugars. When the ripe, white seeds are dried, the cacao-glycoside is partly decomposed by the agency of the above-mentioned diastasic ferment and formations of grape sugar, pure non-nitrogenous cacao-red, together with theobromine and coffeine ensue. These substances, and likewise a certain amount of undecomposed cacao glycoside, can all be detected in the seed, which has by this time acquired a brownish to violet colour.

The unfermented bean, according to Schweitzer, has as much as 0·6% unaltered glucoside. Fermentation produces the same effect as drying, as here again the glycerine is not completely split up, for the cacao-red, isolated in the ordinary way, consists according to Hilger of a mixture of pure non-nitrogenous cacao-red and some glycoside.

The complete decomposition of the cacao glycoside can only be effected in a chemical manner, by boiling the finely divided and defatted seeds with dilute acids, a method which has made it possible to effect an exact determination of the diureides, as the treatment with acid sets free the totality of their theobromine and coffeine.

Schweitzer regards the molecule of cacao glycoside as an ester comprised of one molecule of non-nitrogenous cacao-red, six molecules of starch-sugar and one molecule of theobromine with double-sided attachment and having the hypothetrical formula C₆₀H₈₆O₁₅N₄.

Before the appearance of Hilger’s researches, all statements of a chemical nature respecting cacao-red related to a mixture of a pure non-nitrogenous pigment and the glycoside, which must in all cases be preliminarily obtained, before the pure pigment can be prepared. That can be done[52] by treating the roasted beans with petroleum ether, which removes the fat and part of the free theobromine then with water, to extract the remaining theobromine, coffeine, sugar and salts, and finally with alcohol, to extract the cacao-red. The alcoholic residue is then quickly dried on porous plates. The material thus obtained is a reddish brown amorphous bitter powder, which is scarcely soluble in water, easily so in alcohol or in dilute alkali, and is reprecipitated by acid from its alkaline solution. It gives a sublimate of theobromine when heated. When the substance is distilled with 5 percent of sulphuric acid, the added glycoside is completely decomposed into sugar, theobromine and the real cacao-red, which latter is represented by the formula C₁₇H₁₂(OH)₁₀. It appears to stand in near relation to tannin, which it resembles in yielding formic acid, acetic acid, and pyrocatechin by the action of caustic alkalis. The pure non-nitrogenous cacao-red, at present, is of exclusively scientific interest; for practical purposes only the crude cacao-red, cacao-red glycoside, as naturally existing in the bean, is of importance. The better and the more effectual the manner in which the beans have been prepared by fermentation, the more intense is the formation of the cacao red, especially its localisation in the cells and cell tissues. This is the reason that the variations in colour of different kinds of bean and the aqueous extracts which they yield are so distinct.