After fermentation and drying, beans fermented in the presence
(control) or absence of LAB had similar physical appearance, showed
full fermentation by the cut test and gave similar shell weights that
were within specification guidelines (less than 16%) (Fowler, 2009).
Chocolates prepared from the two sets of beans were considered
acceptable and were not significantly different in terms of chocolate
flavor and overall liking as evaluated by sensory panelists. Based on
these results, it can be concluded that the growth of LAB during cocoa
bean fermentation was not necessary to give beans with an acceptable
chocolate flavor.