Effect of Method and Duration of Fermentation on the Quality of Dried Cocoa Beans

Abstract

Cocoa is the most important export crop in Ghana and it contributes substantially to the foreign exchange earnings. In 2022, cocoa in Ghana was forecast to contribute), around 454 million U.S. dollars, to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Ghana’s cocoa is considered as the standard for assessing cocoa on the international market. However, due to growing competition demand and cost of production, cocoa producers are resorting to innovative methods of producing high quality dried cocoa at the least cost. In order to maintain the quality of cocoa beans, it is imperative to search for new technologies that are capable of improving the quality of dried cocoa beans. This study therefore, examined the effect of fermentation method and number of days of fermentation on the chemical properties and cut quality of dried cocoa beans. The experiment was conducted at Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) and beans were fermented for 3, 4, 6 and 7 days using the heap, tray and basket method of fermentation. The study showed that using the tray method of fermentation produced Grade 1 cocoa according to the standards of Quality Control Company (QCC) of Ghana Cocoa Board irrespective of the duration of fermentation. Generally, fermenting beans for six days using the heap and basket fermentation method resulted in Grade 1 cocoa and also produced beans with lower free fatty acids (0.41% and 0.58% respectively). Fermenting beans for six days using tray method produced the best (36.83mg/g) results of polyphenol content in dried beans. The study suggested that if all the factors and cost of production were similar, farmers should not have apprehension on the method adopted by farmers since all methods produced Grade 1 cocoa.