According to Schwan and Wheals (2004) cocoa pulp inside a not injured cocoa pod is microbiologically sterile but is subsequently contaminated with microorganisms when the fruit is opened.
These microorganisms mainly come from the pod surface, workers’ hands and knives, insects, baskets used to transport the beans and pulp and contribute to the subsequent spontaneous fermentation process (Schwan and Wheals, 2004) The role of filamentous fungi in the microbial succession of cocoa fermentation is not totally known. It is believed that an extensive fungal development at the end of fermentation causes increased deterioration in the consecutive phase of drying (Gilmour and Lindblom, 2008). It is known