Abstract: | This study was carried out to examine the changes in cocoa aspartic endoproteinase and carboxypeptidase activities, mass pH and temperature during 144 h (6 days) of fermentation using shallow wooden boxes. The results showed that at 72 h of fermentation, the activity of aspartic endoproteinase was higher than the original value. However, at 96 h the carboxypeptidase activity was higher than its original activity. The study also found a high correlation 0·99 (P<0·05) between the mass temperature with the aspartic endoproteinase at 48 h of fermentation. No correlation was found between the mass pH and temperature with the carboxypeptidase during fermentation. The degradation of vicilin-class globulin was about 88·8% and that of albumin was 47·4% at the end of fermentation. © 1998 SCI. |