From their harvest pods are carefully opened to extract seeds from it and sweetened pulp the mucilage which wraps them. These seeds are amassed and fermenting Shielded from the air begins in wooden boxes protected by banana tree leaves or still in heap.
The fermentation is realized in two stages. The first fermentation, anaerobic (Shielded from the air) is an ethylic fermentation. Sugars of the mucilage produce some alcohol under the influence of ambient yeasts. The temperature rises and she has to stay under control in the whole of the mass. This fermentation has the effect of preventing the seeding and of favoring the developement of the aromas of the cocoa.
Then, after approximately two days, seeds are aerated and the acetic fermentation develops. At the end of these two stages of fermentation the mucilage disappeared and cocoa beans are aired in the sun during a week to make them lose their humidity and prepare their preservation has the shelter of molds. The rate of humidity has to fall Unless 8 %.
