How are cocoa beans produced?

Answer 1

1.

The cocoa beans are inspected and freed of any debris. After this, the processor can either roast them before or after the shell is removed.

The inside of the cocoa bean is called the nib. Generally speaking, chocolate manufacturers prefer to roast the beans before shelling them, while cocoa processors favor the nib-roasting process.

2.

Roasting the whole bean allows for more variety in the degree of roast and development of flavor, but requires beans of a uniform size, while nib roasting is more even and does not require uniform bean size. Roasting the nib directly also prevents migration of cocoa butter from the bean into the shell, which is discarded. Once the beans have been shelled and roasted (or roasted and shelled, as the case may be), the nib is ground into a paste. The heat generated by this process causes the cocoa butter in the nib to melt, earning it the name "cocoa liquor." The paste, further refined, may be sold as unsweetened Baking Chocolate. All cocoa products start with cocoa liquor, although the liquor required in the manufacture of chocolate has a different texture from the liquor required to make cocoa butter, cake and powder. Chocolate liquor destined for processing into cocoa butter and cake is refined to a very small particle size, while chocolate liquor for chocolate production need not be as finely ground.

3.

The liquor is then fed into hydraulic presses that remove a certain percentage of the cocoa butter, leaving behind a cake containing from 6 to 24 percent of the cocoa's initial butter. The extracted butter can be kept either in liquid or moulded form. The cocoa cake is either broken into smaller pieces (kibbled) and sold into the generic cocoa cake market, or ground into a fine powder. 4.

The cocoa processor has the option of treating the nib or the liquor with an alkali solution (alkalizing), which reduces the acidity by increasing the normal pH factor from about 5.0 up to 8.0. This treatment is also known as "dutching", honoring the homeland of its inventor, C. J. Van Houten, who also developed the cocoa butter pressing method. Alkalizing cocoa nib or cocoa liquor renders the powder darker; gives it a milder, but more chocolaty flavor, and allows it to stay in suspension longer in liquids such as milk. Cocoa butter extracted from alkalized liquor is more pungent, with a less desirable odor and flavor, and must be deodorized and refined. It is then carefully blended with other cocoa butters, so that the final butter for sale has a consistent flavor, color and viscosity. 5.

To manufacture chocolate, cocoa liquor is mixed with cocoa butter and sugar. For Milk Chocolate, producers can add fresh, sweetened condensed or powdered milk, depending on the desired taste. In the crumb or flake process, liquor is blended with sugar and pre-condensed milk, or sweetened condensed milk. It is then dried on heated rollers to produce the flavor more typical of European chocolate or mixed with slightly acidified milk to produce the flavor customary in the United States. After the mixing process, the blend is further refined to reduce the size of the milk and sugar particles. The mixture is then placed into conches-large agitators that stir the mixture under heat. Normally, cocoa butter is added to the mix at this stage, although some manufacturers add it during the original blending process. "Conching" further smoothes the mixture. As a rule, the longer chocolate is conched, the smoother it will be. The process may last for a few hours to three full days, or even longer. After conching, the liquid chocolate may be shipped in tanks or tempered and poured into molds for sale in blocks to confectioners, dairies, or bakers. It may also be converted into proprietary bars for sale direct to the consumer market.

Answer 2

Prior to being dried, cacao seeds (or "cocoa beans") are fermented ... or, more accurately, the fruity pulp which envelops the beans is fermented.

The fermentation process liquefies the pulp, allowing it to drain away. This reduction in pulp assists the drying process. But most importantly, cocoa fermentation triggers an array of chemical changes within the bean. These chemical changes are vital to the development of the complex (and much-loved) flavour known as "chocolate".

Prior to fermentation, the ripe cacao fruits (known as pods) are carefully cut from the tree. The harvested pods are taken to a central location, where the fermentation will take place. Some growers ferment their own beans in relatively small heaps on the floor of the plantation, while others take their pods to a co-op for larger-scale box fermentation. But regardless of the scale of the operation, the fermentation process is essentially the same.

When the pods have been gathered at the fermentary, they are broken open, and the beans are scooped out.

For as long as a cacao pod remains intact, it is sterile, meaning that it contains no yeasts or bacteria. However, during the pod-breaking and bean-scooping stage, the pulp is inoculated with wild yeasts and bacteria. Scientists believe that the bulk of these microogranisms are transferred from the skins of the pods to the beans, via the bean-scoopers' hands.

In the first stage of fermentation, the wild yeasts rapidly multiply in the sweet, fruity pulp, converting the pulp's sugar into alcohol. This initial phase takes place in the absence of oxygen - hence, it is known as anaerobic fermentation. The yeast population peaks within 24 hours.

After the yeasts have done their work, bacteria begin to take over the fermentation process, converting the alcohol into acid. This acid slowly penetrates the bean.

The bacterial phase of fermentation takes place in the presence of oxygen - hence, it is known as aerobicfermentation. This phase requires a significant amount of oxygen, so the beans are typically turned at least twice during the fermentation process, in order to introduce oxygen into the heap, and to ensure that all of the beans are fermented evenly. Typically, the beans are turned at about 48 and 72 hours after fermentation begins.

The bacteria population peaks roughly 72 hours after fermentation first begins, and decreases rapidly over the following 72 hours. Hence, the entire fermentation process typically takes about 144 hours (six days).

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Phase 1 of cocoa fermentation (anaerobic): sugar + yeast --> alcohol + carbon dioxide + heat

Phase 2 of cocoa fermentation (aerobic): alcohol + bacteria + oxygen --> acid + water + heat

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As well as producing alcohol and acid, the fermentation process also generates heat, typically raising the temperature of the fermenting beans to about 45 to 50 degrees Celsius (113 to 122 Fahrenheit).

The acid and heat generated by the fermentation kills the cocoa bean. In turn, the bean's death causes cell walls within the bean to break down, allowing enzymes to come into contact with their substrates. These enzymes bring about some very important chemical changes within the bean, some of which are listed under points 2 and 3, below.

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Enzyme: a protein that induces chemical changes in other substances. The substance that an enzyme changes is known generically as a substrate.

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Very broadly speaking, three major changes happen insidethe cocoa bean during fermentation:

1. Acid penetrates the bean. The acid kills the bean, lowers its pH, and produces a sour, acidic taste.

2. Bitter and astringent flavonoids are converted into milder-tasting substances.

3. Aroma precursors are produced. These aroma precursors are transformed into aromas during roasting.

Below I explain these three major changes in a bit more detail:

1. Acid penetrates the bean.

As previously mentioned, some of the acid which is produced by bacteria during the second phase of fermentation penetrates the bean. This acid is primarily acetic acid: the same acid that gives vinegar its sour taste. Most of this acid is later evaporated out of the bean, during drying and conching. However, a moderate amount of residual acidity can lend a desirable, fruity complexity to cocoa.

2. Bitter and astringent flavonoids are converted into milder-tasting substances.

Freshly harvested cocoa beans are extremely bitter, astringent, and unpalatable. This unpleasant bitterness is primarily due to high levels of water-soluble flavonoids (a.k.a antioxidants) in the bean. During fermentation, these flavonoids undergo a complex series of chemical transformations. For example:

* Some flavonoids combine with other flavonoids to produce larger molecules known as condensed tannins, or proanthocyanidins. This process is very similar to the mellowing process that fine red wine undergoes as it ages. Incidentally, proanthocyanidins are a category of antioxidants that are widely believed to be very good for you (this is why the media often hypes chocolate as a "health food").

* In a multi-step process, some flavonoids oxidise and condense, producing the classic chocolate brown pigmentation in cocoa. This process is known generically as enzymatic browning.

During cocoa fermentation, flavonoids combine with eachother, and with proteins and amino acids, in myriad ways - not all of which are perfectly understood by science. For example:

anthocyanin [purple] + glucosidase enzymes --> anthocyanidin [purple] + sugar

anthocyanidin [purple] + polyphenol oxidase enzymes + oxygen --> quinone [yellow]

quinones [yellow] + other flavonoids + amino acids --> condensed tannins

condensed tannins + proteins --> melanin [brown, water insoluble pigment]

Notes regarding the colour of the cocoa bean:

* Freshly harvested cocoa beans range in colour from white to dark purple.

* If the flesh of an unroasted cocoa bean is brown, then it has undergone enzymatic browning.

* If cocoa beans are dried without first being fermented, they become a slaty grey colour.

So-called slaty beans are considered to be defective under international standards.

* Under-fermented beans remain bright purple. Purple beans are much more bitter and astringent, and have fewer aroma precursors, than fully fermented beans.

3. Aroma precursor development.

Freshly harvested cocoa beans taste nothing like chocolate. The bulk of the chocolate flavour-production happens during roasting, when a chemical reaction known as the Maillard reaction takes place. (The Maillard reaction is sometimes confused with caramelization).

The Maillard reaction is a reaction between so-called "aroma precursors" - namely, amino acids and reducing sugars. When cocoa is roasted, the aroma precursors combine in different ways to create dozens of different flavor compounds.

These all-important aroma precursors are produced during fermentation as a result of enzyme activity. For example:

* Protease enzymes break proteins down into peptides and amino acids.

* Invertase enzymes break sucrose down into fructose and glucose. Fructose and glucose are known as "reducing sugars"

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After fermentation, the cocoa beans are dried. Drying reduces the moisture content in the bean from about 55% to about 7%. With a moisture content of 7%, cocoa beans can keep for many years (in ideal storage conditions).

Answer 3

Cocoa beans are grown on trees is very warm tropics, usually near the equator.

Answer 4

In a chocolate factory. The beans are converted to cocoa, and the cocoa to chocolate.

Answer 5

by crushing them.....