Coffee fermentation process: A review

Ludmilla Janne Carvalho Ferreira; Matheus de Souza Gomes; Liliane Maciel de Oliveira; Líbia Diniz Santos

doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2023.112793

Coffee fermentation process: A review

Food Res Int. 2023 Jul:169:112793. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.112793. Epub 2023 Apr 13.

Authors

Ludmilla Janne Carvalho Ferreira¹, Matheus de Souza Gomes², Liliane Maciel de Oliveira³, Líbia Diniz Santos⁴

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlândia, Patos de Minas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: ludmilla.ferreira@ufu.br.
² Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular Analysis (LBAM), Federal University of Uberlândia, Patos de Minas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: matheusgomes@ufu.br.
³ Department of Food Engineering, Federal University of São João del-Rei, Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: lilianemo@ufsj.edu.br.
⁴ Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlândia, Patos de Minas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: libia@ufu.br.

PMID: 37254380
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.112793

Abstract

In recent years, the importance of controlling coffee fermentation in the final quality of the beverage has been recognized. The literature review was conducted in the Science Direct and Springer databases, considering studies published in the last ten years, 74 references were selected. Several studies have been developed to evaluate and propose fermentation conditions that result in sensory improvements in coffee. So, this review aims to describe detailed the different protocols for conducting the coffee fermentation step and how they could influence the sensory quality of coffee based on the Specialty Coffee Association protocol. We propose a new way to identify coffee post-harvest processing not based on the already known wet, dry and semi-dry processing. The new identification is focused on considering fermentation as a step influenced by the coffee fruit treatment, availability of oxygen, water addition, and starter culture utilization. The findings of this survey showed that each type of coffee fermentation protocol can influence the microbiota development and consequently the coffee beverage. There is a migration from the use of processes in open environments to closed environments with controlled anaerobic conditions. However, it is not possible yet to define a single process capable of increasing coffee quality or developing a specific sensory pattern in any environmental condition. The use of starter cultures plays an important role in the sensory differentiation of coffee and can be influenced by the fermentation protocol applied. The application of fermentation protocols well defined is essential in order to have a good product also in terms of food safety. More research is needed to develop and implement environmental control conditions, such as temperature and aeration, to guarantee the reproducibility of the results.

Keywords: Flavor development; Natural Coffee; Post-harvest; Pulped Coffee; Solid-state fermentation; Specialty coffee; Submerged fermentation, Sensory quality.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Beverages
Coffee*
Fermentation
Food Handling* / methods
Reproducibility of Results

Substances

Coffee