Compositional changes of Indonesian cacao beans during fermentation process

The fermentation of cacao beans is an important process for the quality dev elopment. There is a variety of fermentation methods depending on the count ries, areas, cultivars and so on. The object of this investigation is to st udy the composition of Indonesian cacao beans (Java Criollo) before, during and after the fermentation for total three days at two commercial plantati ons. The results were as follows, 1) Sucrose which is the main sugar compon ent in the cacao beans decreased during the fermentation, Gradually, pH val ue decreased and acid value increased in a day. 2) The content of alkylpyra zines which are the important flavor components in the cacao beans increase d remarkably in 1 to 3 days. 3) The total polyphenol content did not change (6.5 similar to7.4%) significantly during the fermentation. The (-)-epicat echin content did not change in 0 to 1 day but decreased slightly after 1 t o 3 days. DPPH radical scavenging activity also decreased slightly during t he fermentation.