Cocoa fermentation is a key step in the technological transformation of cocoa into chocolate, because the highly bitter, astringent unfermented cocoa beans lack the full chocolate flavor. The fermentation of cocoa beans is therefore the first step of the chocolate-making process, which consists of a natural, 5- to 7-day microbial fermentation of the pectinaceous pulp surrounding the seeds of the tree Theobroma cacao (37, 39). The cocoa pulp is hydrolyzed during fermentation; this aids the drying process by allowing the pulp to be drained. Most importantly, fermentation triggers an array of chemical changes within the cocoa bean that are vital to the development of the complex, beloved flavor of “chocolate.”