A Review of Coffee Processing Methods and Their Influence on Aroma

Abstract

Coffee quality is critical to the industry and is influenced by a variety of factors both before and after harvest that ensure the final expression of the product's qualification, which is based upon a number of factors including genetics, climate, agronomic practices, harvesting (mature stages), and post-harvest handling from farm to cup. This review aims to stress the importance of coffee processing and how it affects coffee quality attributes as well as fermentation techniques. Fermentation is critical in the coffee processing process, not just for removing mucilage, but also for generating essential sensory quality attributes. If fermentation takes longer than expected, bacteria can degrade the product's quality by producing off-flavors and unappealing qualities. New coffee processing procedures, such as anaerobic and carbonic maceration, have become popular recently. Only a handful of the microorganisms present in natural coffee fermentation can be used as a starting culture. Most microbes recovered from spontaneous coffee fermentation lack sensory quality-enhancing properties. Green coffee beans from farms that employ any of the following processing processes are currently fermented with chosen microbes to improve the coffee's flavor and fragrance. Other molecular sciences can help us understand the chemical components produced during fermentation and their impact on coffee quality, resulting in more reliable and complex data.