Harvesting and Processing of Cocoa beans
Theobroma Cacao
Swedish botanist, Carolus Linnaeus, renamed the cocoa tree in 18th century, giving it the Greek name Theobroma Cacao which literally means 'food of gods'.
Cocoa tree grow best under the canopy of tropical rainforests, not reaching more than 7.5 metres (25 feet) high. They need to be shaded from direct sun and wind. The cocoa tree has broad, dark leaves about 25cm long, and pale-coloured flowers in which later turns into cocoa beans (Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd, 2017).
There are two methods are generally used to establish cocoa tree plantations. First is by planting young cocoa trees in between permanent or temporary shade trees such as coconut, plantains and bananas. Another is by thinning out the forest trees and planting the cocoa trees in between established trees.
Cocoa trees begin to bear fruit when they reach three to four years old. They produce pink and white flowers throughout the year and only small proportion of the flowers develop into fruits over a period of about five months. The pods grow straight out of the trunk and the main branches. Each tree gives 20-30 pods per year. One tree produces 450gms of chocolate per year. (Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd, 2017).
Reference:
Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, 24 (1), 1997/98
Source: International Cocoa organization, April 1998
Source: UNCTAD based on the data from International Cocoa Organization,
quaterly bulletin of cocoa statistics.
Benefits and therapeutical use of Chocolate
Benefits:
- Lowers cholesterol level
This enhances blood pressure and lowers the risk of getting cardiovascular disease
- It has ability to limit memory decline according to research done in Harvard Medical school.
- Reduces the risk of getting stroke that causes death
-It reduces the feeling of anxiety and stress
-Dark chocolates help women to overcome pregnancy complications.
-Acts as painkiller
Reference:
Hussain,N, 2015, 7 Suprising Benefits of chocolate, Destination KSA, accessed on 1 October 2017, url: https://destinationksa.com/7-surprising-benefits-of-chocolates/
Pharmacognosy.com, 2017, Benefits and uses of cocoa, medicinalplants-pharmacognosy.com,accessed on 28 September 2017,https://www.medicinalplants-pharmacognosy.com/herbs-medicinal-plants/cocoa-cacao/benefits-infography/
Better Homes and Gardens, 2017, Chocolate: Type, Selection, Storages, Meredith Corporation, accessed on 1 October 2017, url: http://www.bhg.com/recipes/desserts/chocolate/chocolate-types-selection--storage/#page=1
Amano Artisan Chocolate, 2014, Theobroma Cacao-The tree of life:Varieties of cacao, Amano Artisan Chocolate, accessed on 12 October 2017, url:http://www.amanochocolate.com/blog/theobroma-cacao-the-tree-of-life-varieties-of-cacao/
The world Atlas of chocolate, The production of chocolate, The world Atlas of Chocolate, accessed on 15 October 2017, url: https://www.sfu.ca/geog351fall03/groups-webpages/gp8/prod/prod.html
UNCTAD, 2016, Cocoa industry: integrating small farmers into the global value chain, United Nations New York and Geneva, accessed on 15 October 2017, url: http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/suc2015d4_en.pdf
Theobroma Cacao
Swedish botanist, Carolus Linnaeus, renamed the cocoa tree in 18th century, giving it the Greek name Theobroma Cacao which literally means 'food of gods'.
Cocoa tree grow best under the canopy of tropical rainforests, not reaching more than 7.5 metres (25 feet) high. They need to be shaded from direct sun and wind. The cocoa tree has broad, dark leaves about 25cm long, and pale-coloured flowers in which later turns into cocoa beans (Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd, 2017).
There are two methods are generally used to establish cocoa tree plantations. First is by planting young cocoa trees in between permanent or temporary shade trees such as coconut, plantains and bananas. Another is by thinning out the forest trees and planting the cocoa trees in between established trees.
Cocoa trees begin to bear fruit when they reach three to four years old. They produce pink and white flowers throughout the year and only small proportion of the flowers develop into fruits over a period of about five months. The pods grow straight out of the trunk and the main branches. Each tree gives 20-30 pods per year. One tree produces 450gms of chocolate per year. (Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd, 2017).
(Santabarbarachocolate.com, 2017)
(EncyclopediaBrittanica, 2017)
Types of Cocoa Pods:
Forastero (means 'stranger' or 'outsider' in Spanish.)
-widely grown in West Africa, Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, New Guinea, Central America, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia.
-has a red/yellow pod and dark purple beans.
- large-scale chocolate (85% world's cocoa production) is made from Forastero beans - an unexceptional but high-yielding variety from Brazil and W Africa.
- cocoa with strong, earthy flavours
- disease resistance
- cocoa with strong, earthy flavours
- disease resistance
Criollo (means 'of local origin')
- produce softer red/yellow pods, containing 20-30 white, ivory or very pale purple beans.
-very high quality cocoa bean with fine flavor and is very aromatic and lacks bitterness
- luxury chocolate
- Found in Venezuela, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Columbia, Samoan Islands, Sri Lanka and Madagascar.
-less than 3% of the world's cocoa production
- not disease resistance
- luxury chocolate
- Found in Venezuela, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Columbia, Samoan Islands, Sri Lanka and Madagascar.
-less than 3% of the world's cocoa production
- not disease resistance
Trinitario (originates from the island nation of Trinidad)
-are cultivated hybrids of the other two types.
-from Venezuela and cross-fertilised with the native criollo beans resulting in the trinitario
-from Venezuela and cross-fertilised with the native criollo beans resulting in the trinitario
- grown mainly in the Caribbean, Cameroon, Venezuela, Columbia and Papua New Guinea.
- beans of variable colour
-12% of the world's cocoa production.
-12% of the world's cocoa production.
(Amano Artisan Chocolate, 2014)
Harvesting
Ripe pods are gathered and cut with large knives attached to poles.
The pods are collected in large baskets to be split open by hand by the workers.
The seeds or beans, which are covered with a sweet white pulp or
mucilage, are removed to go through the two-part curing process -
fermentation and drying.
Processing cocoa beans
Fermentation -
The cocoa pulp clinging to the beans turns into a liquid and drains away and chocolate flavour starts to develop. There are two basic methods of fermentation, which are using heaps and "sweating" boxes.
The cocoa pulp clinging to the beans turns into a liquid and drains away and chocolate flavour starts to develop. There are two basic methods of fermentation, which are using heaps and "sweating" boxes.
The heap method is traditionally used on farms in West Africa. It involves
piling of wet cocoa beans, surrounded by the pulp, on banana or plantation
leaves spread out in a circle on the ground. The heap is covered with
more leaves and left for 5-6 days.
In the West Indies, Latin America and Malaysia, strong wooden boxes with
drainage holes or gaps in the slats in the base are used. This allows air
and liquid to pass through during fermentation process. This process takes 6-8 days.
Drying and bagging
The wet mass of beans is dried, either traditionally by being spread in the sun on mats or using special drying equipment.
Winnowing
The dried beans are cracked and a stream of air separates the shell from the nib, the small pieces used to make chocolate.
Roasting
The nibs are roasted in special ovens at temperatures between 105-120 degrees Celsius. The cocoa nibs darken to a rich, brown colour and acquire their characteristic chocolate flavour and aroma. The roasting time depends on whether the end use is for cocoa or chocolate.
Grinding
The roasted nibs are ground in stone mills until the friction and heat
of the milling reduces them to a thick chocolate-coloured liquid. It contains 53-58% cocoa butter and solidifies on cooling.
Pressing
The cocoa mass is pressed in powerful machines to extract the cocoa butter in order to make chocolate.
The solid blocks of compressed cocoa remaining after extraction are pulverised into a fine powder to produce a high-grade
cocoa powder.
Cocoa growing countries
South and Central America (Brazil and Ecuador)
Ghana in West Africa
Asia (Malaysia and Indonesia)
(The world Atlas of chocolate, 2017)
Top seven cocoa producing countries
ICCO forecasts of production of cocoa beans for the 1997/98 cocoa year| Country | Production forecast for 1997/98:
(in thousand tonnes) |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 1150.0 |
| Ghana | 370.0 |
| Indonesia | 310.0 |
| Brazil | 160.0 |
| Nigeria | 155.0 |
| Cameroon | 125.0 |
| Malaysia | 100.0 |
Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, 24 (1), 1997/98
Source: International Cocoa organization, April 1998
(UNCTAD, 2016)
World cocoa production by country from 2012/2013-2016/2017
(Statista,2017)
Types of chocolate
Unsweetened chocolate -
pure chocolate without adding sugar
also known ad bitter chocolate, baking chocolate, and pure chocolate.
Used exclusively for baking
Bittersweet Chocolate
35 percent pure chocolate with some small amount of sugar added
also known as dark chocolate
contains chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla and leicithin (an emulsifier).
darker and less sweet than semisweet
Used for baking and eating.
Semisweet Chocolate
35 percent pure chocolate with added cocoa butter and sugar
Used for baking and eating
Sweet Baking Chocolate
15 percent pure chocolate with added cocoa butter and sugar
15 percent pure chocolate with added cocoa butter and sugar
Sweeter than semisweet chocolate
Milk Chocolate
10 percent pure chocolate with added cocoa butter and sugar
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
pure chocolate with most of the cocoa butter removed
Natural cocoa powder is light brown, with a strong, pronounced chocolate flavor.
slightly acidic
White Chocolate
made by combining cocoa butter with sugar, milk solids, and flavoring, usually vanilla
made by combining cocoa butter with sugar, milk solids, and flavoring, usually vanilla
Premelted Chocolate
semiliquid, unsweetened product made of cocoa powder and vegetable oil.
Candy Coating
also known as compound chocolate coating, chocolate summer coating, confectioners' coating chocolate, and chocolate-flavored coating
most of the cocoa butter removed and replaced with vegetable fat.
Mexican Chocolate
has cinnamon and sugar added to the pure chocolate.
(Meredith Corporation, 2017)
(medicinalplants-pharmacognosy.com, 2017)
Benefits:
- Lowers cholesterol level
This enhances blood pressure and lowers the risk of getting cardiovascular disease
- It has ability to limit memory decline according to research done in Harvard Medical school.
- Reduces the risk of getting stroke that causes death
-It reduces the feeling of anxiety and stress
-Dark chocolates help women to overcome pregnancy complications.
-Acts as painkiller
Reference:
Hussain,N, 2015, 7 Suprising Benefits of chocolate, Destination KSA, accessed on 1 October 2017, url: https://destinationksa.com/7-surprising-benefits-of-chocolates/
Pharmacognosy.com, 2017, Benefits and uses of cocoa, medicinalplants-pharmacognosy.com,accessed on 28 September 2017,https://www.medicinalplants-pharmacognosy.com/herbs-medicinal-plants/cocoa-cacao/benefits-infography/
Better Homes and Gardens, 2017, Chocolate: Type, Selection, Storages, Meredith Corporation, accessed on 1 October 2017, url: http://www.bhg.com/recipes/desserts/chocolate/chocolate-types-selection--storage/#page=1
Amano Artisan Chocolate, 2014, Theobroma Cacao-The tree of life:Varieties of cacao, Amano Artisan Chocolate, accessed on 12 October 2017, url:http://www.amanochocolate.com/blog/theobroma-cacao-the-tree-of-life-varieties-of-cacao/
The world Atlas of chocolate, The production of chocolate, The world Atlas of Chocolate, accessed on 15 October 2017, url: https://www.sfu.ca/geog351fall03/groups-webpages/gp8/prod/prod.html
UNCTAD, 2016, Cocoa industry: integrating small farmers into the global value chain, United Nations New York and Geneva, accessed on 15 October 2017, url: http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/suc2015d4_en.pdf
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