English

Cambuy Siqueira Valdiney,Meira Borem Flavio,Euripedes Alves Guilherme,Henrique Da Silva Taveira Jose,Egidio Ribeiro Diego,Celso Ferreira Pinto Afonso,Pedroza Isquierdo Eder

doi:10.5897/ajar2016.10837

Abstract

This study aimed to propose a new method to reduce the time needed for coffee processing and drying and to verify this method’s possible impact on both the sensorial and physiological qualities of coffee. The method, which entails hulling coffee with different moisture contents by removing the entire pericarp before completing the drying, reduced the operating time by more than 50% as compared to the normal drying of natural process coffees. The temperatures used for drying the hulled coffee did not compromise its quality; coffee hulled with 36 ± 2% (w.b.) resulted in higher sensory analysis scores; and coffee hulled with higher moisture content yielded a better physical appearance. Key words: Mechanical drying, Coffea arabica L., processing, physiological and sensory quality.

Highlights

In recent decades, coffee production has gone through several transformations such as the introduction of varieties that are more productive, have greater resistance to pests and diseases, and have greater tolerance to drought as well as the implementation of modern production systems with a high standard of crop protection
The drying time of coffee fruits prior hulling were 36, 48, 60 and 72 h, which correspond to the moisture content 36±2, 29±2, 22±2 and 17±2% w.b. in the beans, respectively
The drying time of the hulled coffee beans was calculated by the difference between the total drying time (Table 1) and the drying time before hulling

Summary

Introduction

Coffee production has gone through several transformations such as the introduction of varieties that are more productive, have greater resistance to pests and diseases, and have greater tolerance to drought as well as the implementation of modern production systems with a high standard of crop protection. There have been important technological advances such as the introduction of irrigation. In Brazil, coffee farming is becoming a growing business, which occupies extensive agricultural areas of high productivity (Carvalho et al, 2010; Faria and Siqueira, 2005; Lanna and Reis, 2012; Silva et al, 2008, 2013)

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Conclusion