639 © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 A. Isnansetyo, T.R. Nuringtyas (eds.), Proceeding of the 1st International Conference on Tropical Agriculture, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-60363-6_64 Effect of Aeration on Temperature and Index Fermentation of Cocoa Beans Using a Fermentor Packed Bed Sri Hartuti, Joko Nugroho Wahyu Karyadi, and Nursigit Bintoro Abstract The research aimed to identify changes of the amount of air supply dur- ing fermentation process using a packed bed fermenter and its effects to fermenta- tion performance. The reactor used was an acrylic tube with a diameter of 11 cm and length of 25 cm. The amount of air supplied was regulated by an airflow meter. The temperature of the fermentation reactor was controlled to minimize heat loss to the surrounding. Parameters that varied during the test were the amount of air aeration and fermentation time. The results showed that during the fermentation process, temperatures of the cocoa beans ascended from 30 °C to 55 °C. Based on cut tests, succeed rate of the fermentation process was about 73% with fermentation index of dry cocoa beans ≥1. Keywords Aeration rate • Cocoa • Cut test • Fermentation • Temperature 1 Introduction Cocoa is a mainstay commodity that is developed in Indonesia. Utilization of cocoa in food, beverages, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries is increasing. As one of the main global cocoa producers, Indonesia produces around 15% of world cocoa beans and ranks third in the world, with a total production volume nearing Ghana [1]. Global demand for cocoa beans continues to increase by 4.4% with the greatest interest to high-quality fermented cocoa beans [2]. Based on data from Directorate General of Plantation Indonesia, it is estimated that by 2015, Indonesian cocoa plantation area has reached 1,704,982 ha with a production of 701,229 t. Although Indonesian is well known as one of the main global cocoa producers, its quality remains low. The quality of dried cocoa beans is low due to various S. Hartuti (*) • J.N.W. Karyadi • N. Bintoro Department of Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia e-mail: sri.hartuti@gmail.com