Considering the role of microbial population during the fermentation, a change in the dynamics of microbial population may alter the overall activity and may impact the fermentation process. On the other hand, lactic acid bacteria is one of the indigenously present microorganisms in cocoa beans that is relatively easy to obtain. It was the aim of this research to map the effect of LAB starter addition to the cocoa bean fermentation, whether this could be used to improve the fermentation process. The dynamics in microbial population, sugar composition of the mucilage, formed metabolic products, as well as fermentation index were measured to analyze the effects.