The terroir of Brazilian Coffea canephora: Characterization of the chemical composition

Food Res Int. 2024 Jan:176:113814. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113814. Epub 2023 Dec 3.

Abstract

FTIR spectroscopy and multivariate analysis were used in the chemical study of the terroirs of Coffea canephora. Conilon coffees from Espírito Santo and Amazon robusta from Matas of Rondônia, were separated by PCA, with lipids and caffeine being the markers responsible for the separation. Coffees from Bahia, Minas Gerais, and São Paulo did not exhibit separation, indicating that the botanical variety had a greater effect on the terroir than geographic origin. Thus, the genetic factor was investigated considering the conilon and robusta botanical varieties. This last group was composed of hybrid robusta and apoatã. The DD-SIMCA favored the identification of the genetic predominance of the samples. PLS-DA had a high classification performance regarding the conilon, hybrid robusta, and apoatã genetic nature. Lipids, caffeine, chlorogenic acids, quinic acid, trigonelline, proteins, amino acids, and carbohydrates were identified as chemical markers that discriminated the genetic groups.

Keywords: Brazilian coffee; Chemometrics; FTIR spectroscopy; Genetic factor; Geographical origin; Machine learning.

MeSH terms

  • Brazil
  • Caffeine / analysis
  • Coffea* / chemistry
  • Coffea* / genetics
  • Coffee / chemistry
  • Lipids

Substances

  • Caffeine
  • Coffee
  • Lipids