STDF - CABI - ICCO PROJECT: TRAINING OF MASTER FACILITATORS

MCB R&D Centre, Teluk Intan, Perak, Malaysia, 7-17 April 2014



Grading and Quality Checks of Dry Cocoa Beans
Introduction
In Accordance to the Malaysian Cocoa Board
Regulations 2012-Regulation 20.(1) :
No Dry Cocoa Beans or semi-processed
products shall be purchased, sold , exported
or imported unless it has been graded in any
manner as the Board may determine.
Objectives
To control the quality of dry cocoa beans from Malaysia with
the common grading and certification system, the quality of
cocoa beans produced by Malaysia is assured.
To improve the quality of Malaysian cocoa bean to enhance
acceptance and fetch better price in the world market.
To produce a complete and systematic procedures of cocoa
grading and certification to eliminate the differences in
quality between consignments and origins of production.
QUALITY REQUIREMENTS
(MALAYSIAN STANDARD MS 293:2005)
QUALITY REQUIREMENTS
The cocoa beans shall be from ripe pods and adequately
fermented, free from smoky smell, free from objectionable or
foreign odour and free from any evidence of adulteration.
The cocoa beans shall be evenly dried throughout. The
moisture content shall be less than or equal to 7.5 %.
The cocoa beans shall be reasonably uniform in size.
The consignment shall be free from bean clusters and
reasonably free from double bean.
The consignment shall contain less than or equal to 2 % waste
by weight.
The consignment shall be free from insects includes mites.
The consignment shall be free from foreign matters.
Quality Requirements
Parameters Standard

Pods

Ripe

Fermentation

Adequately fermented

Smoky smell/Objectionable or
foreign odour

Free

Evidence of adulteration

Free

Moisture Content

7.5%

Bean Size

Reasonably Uniform
Quality Requirements
Parameter Standard
Bean Cluster Free
Double Bean Reasonably Free

Waste content

< 2.0%

Insect infestation

Free

Foreign Matter

Free
Grade Specifications
(Table 1)
Standard
Malaysian
Cocoa
Grades
Bean Count
(100g)
Mouldy
beans
(% max.)
Slaty
beans
(%max.)
Insects
Damage and
Germinated
Beans
(%max.)

SMC 1

SMC 2

SMC 3

<100

>100 < 110

>110 < 120

< 3%

< 3%

< 3%

< 3%

< 3%

< 3%

< 2.5%

< 2.5%

< 2.5%
NOTES:
All Percentage in the grade specifications are by count . The percentage given
in the last column applies to all the mentioned therein, taken together
DEFINITIONS
Cocoa bean :
The fermented and dried, whole seed
of Theobroma cacao L.
Adulteration
Adulteration of the composition of graded
cocoa beans by any means whatsoever so
that the resulting mixture or combination
is not of the grade prescribed, or affects
adversely the quality, flavour , or alters
the bulk or mass.




DEFINITION
Broken Beans :
Cocoa bean of which a fragment is missing ,
the missing part being equivalent to less than
half of the bean.


Mouldy bean :

Cocoa bean on the internal part of which mould is
visible to the naked eye.





Insect damaged or insect infested bean :

Cocoa bean, of which the internal parts are found to
have been infested by insects which have inflicted
damage visible to the naked eye or contain insect
including mites, at any stage of development





Slaty bean:
Cocoa bean which shows a slaty colour on half or
more of the internal surface









Fermented bean:

Cocoa bean of which the colour of the
cotyledons should range from partly
purple and partly brown to a fully
brown.



Bean cluster :
Bean clump which consists of three or
more beans fused together.
which cannot be separated by hand
Double bean :
Two beans fused together which
cannot be separated by hand.
Germinated bean:
Cocoa bean of which the shell has been pierced,
slit or broken by the growth of the seed germ.






Flat bean:
Cocoa bean of which the cotyledons are too thin
to be cut to give a full length of the cotyledon
surface.








Smoky bean:
Cocoa bean which has a smoky smell or taste.







Fragment:
A piece of cocoa bean less than half the original
bean.







Piece of shell :
Part of the shell without adhering cotyledon.








Waste:
flat bean, Piece of shell, dried
placenta , and dried Pulp.

Foreign Matters :
Any Materials and particle other than cocoa
beans and waste


DETERMINATION
OF
GRADE
DETERMINATION OF GRADE
30% Probing Sample Collection
Select 30% randomly
3 Positions Probing on Each Bag
1
st
Top position
2
nd
Middle position
3
rd
Bottom position
Beans collected in Polythene bag
28
Cocoa probing (sample)
QUALITY TOOLS
PROBE :
To collect samples
of cocoa beans by
thrusting a probe
into bags at three
different position
of each bag.
DETERMINATION OF GRADE
(Preliminary Inspection)
Examining Live Insects
To determine the presence of live insects
during sample collection for the
consideration of fumigation requirement.
DETERMINATION OF GRADE
(Preliminary Inspection)
Detecting Off-Flavour
To detect any off-flavour from beans during
sample collection especially on smoky beans.
DETERMINATION OF GRADE
Examining Cocoa Beans
To examine the physical condition of the cocoa
beans such as sizes uniformity, colour and
other general appearance.
QUALITY TOOLS
QUATERING TOOLS
To reduce bulk
sample of cocoa
beans for grading
analysis.
35
DETERMINATION OF GRADE

Each quarter-
Reference/Audit/Exporter/ Grade
Analysis
Quartering Bulk Sample
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10
11 12
1
+
4
5
+
8
ANALYSIS TEST
38

GRADING (Analysis Test)


1) Determination Of waste content
2) Determination of Bean Count
3) Conducting the Cut Test



Analysis test : Determining Waste
Content


% WC =
Weight of Sample Weight of
Whole & Broken Beans x 100
divided by Weight Sample
1. Waste content
QUALITY TOOLS
DIGITAL BALANCE
To measure weight
of cocoa bean,
broken bean, waste
and foreign matter.

STEPS

1. SAMPLES







2. WEIGHT EACH QUARTER
(S
1
) = (W)

S
1
S
2
S
3
S
4
W
3. SEPARATE ,WHOLE BEAN,
BROKEN BEAN, WASTE & DOUBLE
BEAN

WASTE
BROKEN
BEAN
WHOLE
BEAN
DOUBLE BEAN



4. WEIGHT - (W1)


WEIGHT WHOLE BEAN
WEIGHT BROKEN BEAN
WEIGHT DOUBLE BEAN
W1

PERCENTAGE OF WASTE :


= W - W1 x 100
W
W = Weight of sample(gm)
W1 = Weight of whole bean, broken bean
and double bean (gm)


Example :

% Waste S
1
= ( 317 312) gm x 100
317 gm
= 1.6 %

Repeat the reading for next quarter



Average % waste = S
1
+ S
2 +
S
3 +
S
4


4

Example = 1.8 +1.8+2.2+ 2.2

4

= 2.0 %


EXAMPLE OF WASTE AVERAGE :
To determine Bean Count

BC/100gm = No. of Whole Beans x 100
divided by Weight of Whole
Bean

% Broken Bean = Weight of 4 quarters Broken
Bean x 100 divided by
Total Weight of 4
2. Bean count
ANALYSIS TEST :


STEPS :

T Take the final quarter sample


Separated the bean and count


Count the whole bean



Weight the whole bean
for each quarter



S
1
S
2
S
3
S
4

Bean Count = Total whole bean x 100
Weight of whole bean

Example :

(S
1
) = 243 bean x 100 gm
238 gm
= 102 bean



Repeat the process for the next
quarter


Calculate the average of the bean count

= S
1
+ S
2 +
S
3 +
S
4


4
100 + 100 + 100 + 100
= 4


= 100
The bean count expresses as number of whole
beans per 100g:
Bean Count = No.Of whole beans x 100 =
Weight of whole beans(g)
Eg 1: 250 x 100 = 98 (SMC 1)
255
Eg 2 : 250 x 100 = 102 (SMC 2)
245
Eg: 3 : 250 x 100 =114 (SMC 3)
220

Gred
SMC

Bean Count/
(100g)

1

2

3

100 or Less

101 - 110

111- 120
Determining the Bean Count
Bean Count : The total number of whole
cocoa beans required to make a weight of
100g
SMC
Grades
Bean Count
(100g)

1

2

3

< 100

>100 < 110

>110 < 120
CUT TEST
The sample of whole cocoa beans from the bean
count is used for the cut test .
With selection of the quarter which contain the
highest number of beans.
To determine the percentage of :
a) Mouldy bean ;
b) Slaty Bean ;
c) Insect damage and germinated Bean
d) To identify the level of fermentation

CUT TEST(Procedure)
P1: Cut all the beans lengthwise through the middle , so as
to expose the maximum cut surface of the cotyledons.
P2: Examine visually both halves of each bean in full
daylight or under an equivalent artificial light for its level
of fermentations and defects.
P3: Count separately the number of defective beans
i.e mouldy beans,slaty beans, insect damaged and
germinated beans. Where beans has multiple defects,
count only one defect which occurs according to the
above.
ANALYSIS TEST
To conduct Cut Test

% Insect Damaged = No. of ID Bean x 100
divided by Total No.
of Bean Cut
% Germinated = No. of Germinated
Bean x 100 divided by
Total No. of Bean Cut
3. Cut test
To conduct Cut Test

% Mouldy = No. of Mouldy Bean x 100
divided by Total No. of Bean Cut
% Slaty = No. of Slaty Beans x 100
divided by Total No. of Bean Cut
58

ANALYSIS TEST
3. Cut test

To conduct Cut Test

% Fully Brown = No. of FB Bean x 100
divided by No. of Bean Cut

% Partly Purple/Brown = No. of PPB Bean x 100
divided by No. of Bean Cut

% Fully Purple = No. of FP Bean x 100
divided by No. of Bean Cut
Analysis test :
4. Fermentation level
The degree of fermentation
(MS 293:2005)


Fermentation Level Category
> 60% of the cut bean
is fully brown
Good
45%-60% of the cut
bean is fully brown
Moderately
< 45% of the cut bean
is fully brown
Fairly Good

STEPS :



Take one quarter which the higher bean
count

Cut the bean and display the surface of
cotyledon






Display all the cotyledon and count the
defeated bean and the colour of fermentation
levels


Defeated Levels :
QUALITY TOOLS
SECATEUR
To cut cocoa bean
lengthwise during
cut test.
64
QUALITY TOOLS
CUT TEST BOARD
To display beans that
have been cut during
cut test in determining
mouldy, slaty, insect
damaged, germinated
and level of
fermentation..
Determining Moisture Content

% MC = Total of 4 MC Readings divided
by Total Number of Readings
66
5. Moisture content
Analysis test :
QUALITY TOOLS
BLENDER
To grind cocoa
bean into powder
for moisture
content
measurement.
67
QUALITY TOOLS
MOISTURE METER
To measure
moisture content
of cocoa bean.
68

Take the 4 reading from
the moisture grain
master meter and find
the average
STEPS:



Take one quarter sample



Grind the beans (40 beans)


Put the grind bean inside the small plastic bag



Repeat the process for the next quarter




Average result for moisture content:

% Moisture Content = Four reading MC
Number of reading

Example: 7.0 + 7.0 + 7.0 + 7.0

4
= 7.0 %

END RESULT OF GRADING
THANK YOU