A device was developed that can measure the quality of wet cacao beans prior to fermentation and good quality beans. The instrument comprises several sensors that measure the sugar content, volatile alcohol, and salinity of the juice from the bean mucilage. Once the juice is analyzed, the device will show the value of different quality parameters that indicate wet cacao beans’ freshness and quality. This will increase the accuracy of cacao quality screening, enhance the capability of selecting higher quality cacao beans, decrease the chances of buying low-quality cacao beans from suppliers, increase the availability of high-quality cacao beans in the local as well as a foreign market, avoid adulteration and reduce defects during the production process. It is desirable to detect defects at an early stage of cocoa processing to initiate remedial action as fast as possible.
The technology can help the processors as well as the farmers. Processors are the project’s primary beneficiary because they can produce a higher quality product while farmers were the second in terms of the price difference for quality of wet cacao beans sold to processors.
