MEMPELAJARI PENGARUH JENIS MATERIAL FERMENTOR DAN KONDISI FERMENTASI TERHADAP MUTU BIJI KAKAO

Abstract

The processing of cocoa seed in West Sumatra is still traditionally using the plastic bag so that the quality of cocoa seed produced become low.  A fermentation with a tray fermentor is one of the ways to increase the quality of cocoa seed.  This investigation is aimed at learning the effects of material height and air distributor use (natural, blower, and fan) on the quality of dried cocoa seed produced through the fermentation process in the application of a box fermentor made of Timbalun and Bamboo trees. The quality of cocoa is influenced by kind of raw material (ferestero), air distributor, material height and a sort of fermentor sort used. The air distributor using a blower enables the temperature in the fermentor to be increased, so that the blower’s cooling should be made. Analysis made for the cocoa seeds is the determination of dried cocoa seed qualities (A, B, C, G), slaty seed level, pH, and water level of dried cocoa seed. The result of analysis with an optimal quality A dried cocoa seed is 39%, that is on the fermentation process using bamboo tray fermentor (2 and 4 cm) with an air distributor of a fan. Based on the result, it can be drawn a conclusion that the lower the material height used, the flatter the air distribution in a fermentor and the higher the quality of cocoa.