Comparison of sensory attributes and chemical markers of the infrared spectrum between defective and non-defective Colombian coffee samples

Abstract

Defects in coffee affect the sensory quality of finished drink. To avoid this, defective beans are usually removed after threshing, as, once the green beans have been roasted, it becomes difficult to identify the defects. Procedures have been developed to evaluate coffee samples using infrared spectroscopy to detect such defects. As such, this study evaluated infrared spectra and sensory attributes of 39 coffee samples in: commercial ground and instant coffees, medium and high roast quality coffees, and defects present in the coffee. The sensory analysis was performed by 10 judges, semi-trained by a Q-grader, and eleven attributes were assessed using a semi-structured hedonic scale. The spectra obtained from the coffee samples were processed by mean centering, normalization (probabilistic quotient normalization), area normalization, first derivative and second derivative, later followed by principal component analyses. The sensory results showed differences in the evaluated attributes, differentiating between the samples of high quality medium roasted coffee from the other samples. After processing IR spectra of the samples by area normalization, PCA results exhibited four different groups: a) medium, high roasted quality coffee, with broken and chipped defects; b) commercial ground coffee and defects of sour, insect damaged, and faded; c) black defects, and d) instant coffee. Using the chemical descriptors obtained from the infrared spectra, it was possible to separate between high quality, commercial and instant coffee.