Dados do Trabalho

Título

Fermentation and Quality: The Impact of Immature Beans on Specialty Coffees

Introdução

The global market for specialty coffees has shown consistent growth, with Brazil establishing itself as a world leader in production and export. This leadership provides Brazilian producers with exceptional opportunities to enhance their products through practices that emphasize quality, sustainability, and added value. The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) considers the presence of immature beans a defect due to the astringency they can add to the drink. The exact percentage of immature beans that leads to significant sensory defects has not yet been defined.

Material e Métodos

Conducted at the Cerrado Mineiro Farm, the experiment involved fermenting fruits with 70% immature beans in 200-liter bioreactors for 24 hours, applying the self-induced anaerobic fermentation (SIAF) method in both solid and submerged systems, with variations in temperature control and the use of starter cultures. After fermentation, the beans were classified according to SCA methodology, however, duplicates of the treatments were carried out, one with the presence of immature beans and the other without. Sensory analysis was conducted blind by 5 Q-graders. All treatments scored above 80, qualifying them as specialty coffees.

Resultados e Discussão

The solid-state fermentation treatment without temperature control and without inoculum stood out, achieving an average of 83.8±0.4, while submerged fermentation in the absence of temperature control, with the use of starter cultures, scored 83.3±1.0, both in the presence of immature beans. The control treatments reached 82.3±0.9 points with immature beans and 83.5±1.7 points without, with no significant difference from the treatments. The Q-graders often noted the sensory description "immature finish" along with "citric acidity and chocolate notes" in the treatments for treatments with and without immature beans.

Conclusão

Therefore, the research concludes that, despite evidence in the literature that immature beans impair beverage sensory quality, this study demonstrates that the SIAF method can improve sensory perception, even with a high proportion of immature fruits. Thus, the use of the SIAF method is crucial for mitigating the adverse effects of astringency and enhancing the sensory quality of coffee, even under conditions of high incidence of immature fruits.