The impact of ambient temperature regulation on arabica coffee fermentation

Autor(es)

Costa, Gisele Xavier Ribeiro ; Bertarini, Pedro Luiz Lima ; Silva, Livia Carneiro Fidelis ; do Amaral, Laurence Rodrigues ; Gomes, Matheus de Souza ; de Oliveira, Liliane Maciel ; Santos, Libia Diniz

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: APPLIED FOOD RESEARCH; v. 5, n. 1, p. 16-pg., 2025-06-01.

Resumo

Although temperature is a key variable in fermentation processes, coffee fermentation is usually carried out without temperature control, and its effect on metabolite profiles and beverage quality are not well established. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of ambient temperature control during self-induced anaerobic fermentation on the physicochemical characteristics and on the quality of the coffee beverage. Arabica coffees were fermented in solid and submerged states, with and without ambient temperature control. For the Paraiso variety, the temperature was controlled at 18 degrees C, and for the Arara variety, the temperature was controlled at 27 degrees C. The results indicated that temperature control facilitated increased microbial activity during fermentation, as indicated by a more substantial reduction of sugars at the earlier stages of the fermentation process. In the sensory evaluation, an average increase of 3.5 points was observed for the best scored coffees obtained at controlled temperature at 27 degrees C. Meanwhile, under 18 degrees C temperature control condition, the highest increase observed in score was approximately 2.5 points. Temperature control at 27 degrees C resulted in the production of coffees with the highest scores within 48 hours of fermentation, whereas at 18 degrees C, fermentation required 72 h to achieve the best results. Among coffees obtained under external temperature control, Arara coffees exhibited higher sensory diversity than Paraiso's. The decision trees generated using machine learning techniques revealed that, for Paraiso variety coffees, temperature control and fermentation time were the most significant variables in achieving sensory evaluation scores above 84 points. Conversely, for Arara coffees, fermentation time emerged as the most critical variable. These findings indicate that ambient temperature control, especially with solid-state fermentation, contributes to improving the sensory characteristics of coffee. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 21/06968-3 - Da semente à xícara: internet das coisas na cadeia produtiva de cafés de qualidade
• Beneficiário: Antonio Chalfun Junior
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Temático