Hanseniaspora opuntiae, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lactobacillus fermentum, and Acetobacter pasteurianus predominate during well-performed Malaysian cocoa bean box fermentations, underlining the importance of these microbial species for a successful cocoa bean fermentation process.

Two spontaneous Malaysian cocoa bean box fermentations (one farm, two plantation plots) were investigated. Physical parameters, microbial community dynamics, yeast and bacterial species diversity [mainly lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and acetic acid bacteria (AAB)], and metabolite kinetics were monitored, and chocolates were produced from the respective fermented dry cocoa beans. Similar microbial growth and metabolite profiles were obtained for the two fermentations.