During the six days of fermentation the fungi most commonly isolated were: yeasts, Monascus ruber, Penicillium paneum, Geotrichum candidum and Absidia corymbifera (Table 1). In this period,
the a w of cocoa beans was in the range of 0.99-0.98 (Table 1). In general, filamentous fungi were found at low levels during this stage.