Research shows markers for assessing the quality of coffee

The coffee quality is a priority of research that has highlighted the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) in the national and international scene. A dissertation on Tuesday (22/01), in the UFLA Department of Agriculture (DAG / UFLA), presented the results of physiological and biochemical tests used to evaluate and rank the quality of coffee. The new classification method by means of digital image processing can be used to complement the sensory analysis, traditionally used in the coffee industry.
The work was performed by the student Marcella Nunes de Freitas, in the Graduate Program in Plant Science, under the guidance of the researcher from Embrapa Café, Sttela Dellyzete Veiga Franco da Rosa, packed in UFLA under the Coffee Research Consortium
According to the supervisor of the study, new assessment tools are critical to sustain the competitiveness of specialty coffee segment in the international arena, whose quality assessment is usually done by means of sensory analysis of drinking. "The tests have the advantage of being objective, fast, accurate and easy to standardize, which should complement the criteria used sensory analysis," said the researcher.
The idea arose from the protocols now used in industry for seeds, whose quality assessment is performed by means of physiological and biochemical tests, which have shown a high correlation with the quality of the beverage. The novelty was to investigate the potential of these tests to assess the quality of coffee brews, as well as the correlation of the results of the sensory analysis.
According to the results, simple tests such as germination tests, tetrazolium, electrical conductivity, as well as the quantification of some enzymes with the anti-oxidative present as highly promising tool for complementing the sensory evaluation of coffee beans. The results, although preliminary, require additional studies for the validation and standardization of testing.
Source: Revista Cafeicultura