Abstract
BackgroundThe fatty acids of green coffee beans are one of the major components that determine the quality of coffee. Fatty acids composition of green coffee beans is affected by soil composition and altitude of coffee plants. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of altitude of the coffee plants on the composition of fatty acids in green coffee beans.MethodsFatty acids contents of 40 green coffee beans samples collected from the coffee plants grown at different altitudes (group 1: 1500–1700, group 2: 1701–1900 and group 3: > 1900 m.a.s.l.) in Ethiopia were determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Chemometric data analyses were performed to determine the effects of altitude on the fatty acid composition of the green coffee beans.ResultsThe green coffee beans contained main saturated fatty acid, palmitic acid with an average value of 55.5 mg/g and unsaturated fatty acid, linoleic acid with an average value of 51.6 mg/g. The other major constituents of fatty acids present in green coffee beans were stearic and oleic acids with the value of 12.3 mg/g and 8.92 mg/g, respectively. Palmitic acid content in lowland green coffee beans is significantly different than in the other two regions. On the other hand, stearic and oleic acids contents in the green coffee beans did not show a significant difference between the three topographical regions. While linoleic acid content in the green coffee beans showed significant difference between group 1 and 3 but did not show significant differences between group 1 and 2 and between group 2 and 3. The four major fatty acids, palmitic (R = − 0.574), linoleic (R = − 0.506), stearic (R = − 0.43) and oleic acids (R = − 0.291) in green coffee beans showed a moderate negative correlation with the altitude of coffee plants.ConclusionThe fatty acids contents decreases with increasing altitude of the coffee plants and hence affects the quality of coffee. The fatty acid composition of green coffee beans can also be used to determine the topographical origin of coffee plants.
Highlights
The fatty acids of green coffee beans are one of the major components that determine the quality of coffee
The fatty acid composition obtained in green coffee beans can be identified by comparing the retention times and mass spectral characteristics of the pure standard [14]
The negative correlation indicates that the fatty acids contents decreases with increasing altitude of the coffee plants
Summary
The fatty acids of green coffee beans are one of the major components that determine the quality of coffee. Fatty acids composition of green coffee beans is affected by soil composition and altitude of coffee plants. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of altitude of the coffee plants on the composition of fatty acids in green coffee beans. Coffee is the most valuable commodities in the world. It is cultivated in more than 80 countries in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Coffee is appreciated international beverages; most of the peoples drink coffee every day, sometimes twice, or more times a day [4, 5]. It is a popularly consumed beverage with its extremely complex flavor. The genus Coffea is believed to comprises about 103 species worldwide, from these about 70 major species of the genus Coffea is found in the tropical area, but only three of them (Coffea arabica, Coffea robusta, and Coffea liberica) are cultivated for commercial coffee consumption [1, 7]
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