In 10 tests done on men, some of the fermentation parameters vary. These include: shell stored over fresh fruit, spread the beans before fermentation, soaking beans after fermentation and the length of fermentation time. In Dak Lak province, because lower ambient temperature, a "hot" fermentation procedure was trialed in an effort to bring the air temperature to those encountered in the Mekong region. These tests are usually carried out in parallel with the performance testing of solar dryers. A summary of the performance of solar dryers of Can Tho and Dak Lak also included | Ministry of Agriculture Rural Development 1 Australian Government AusAID Collaboration for Agriculture Rural Development 013-VIE05 Cocoa Fermentation and Drying and Quality Assessment in Vietnam Research Papers Technical Reports May 2008 CONTENTS 1. Summary of 2. WASI Pod Storage Trial December 3. Box and Heap Fermentation and Drying Trials .11 Can Tho University Trial 1 18-23 4 2006 . 11 Can Tho University Trial 2 May-June 2006 .21 Can Tho University Trial 3 August 2006 .26 Can Tho University Trial 4 April 2007 . 31 WASI Fermentation Trial 2 April 2007 . 35 Nong Lam University Trial September 2007 . 51 Nong Lam University Trial December 2007 . 56 4. On-farm trials in Ben Tre province by Can Tho University November 2006 .74 5. Quality Attributes of Vietnamese 1 1. Summary of findings Summary of findings In the ten fermentation trials conducted a number of fermentation parameters were varied. These included stored pods vs. fresh pods spreading of beans prior to fermenting soaking of beans after fermentation and length of fermentation time. In Dak Lak province because of the lower ambient temperatures a hot house fermentation procedure was trialed in an attempt to bring air temperatures up to those encountered in the Mekong region. These trials were often conducted in tandem with trials on the performance of the solar dryers. A summary of the solar dryer s performance Can Tho and Dak Lak is also included. Results obtained are summarized as follows 1. Pod storage A trial to specifically look at the effects of pod storage on parameters associated with fermentations and the resultant dried bean characteristics was conducted at WASI in December 2006. The results demonstrated a much lower moisture content of beans subjected to eight days pod storage during all stages of the fermentation. This lower moisture content results in a greater degree of aeration of the fermenting mass of beans and therefore an .
