Physical and sensorial quality of arabica coffee cultivars submitted to two types of post-harvesting processing

Abstract

The growing demand for better quality coffees has driven changes in the coffee production chain, mainly through the adoption of new technologies and management. Thus, this work was carried out aiming to evaluate the physical and sensorial quality of Arabica coffee cultivars, submitted to natural and pulped post-harvesting processing. The experiment was carried out following a randomized block design with three replications, in a split-plot scheme, with the plots consisting of five cultivars (Catucaí 2 SL, Catucaí 24/137, Catuaí IAC 44, Arara and Acauã); and the subplots by two processes, pulped and natural cherry. The harvest was carried out manually, harvesting the cherry fruits (ripe) in a sieve. The coffees were processed by the natural and pulped cherry methods. Drying was carried out on a covered suspended terrace, until the grains reached 11% ± 1 moisture (wet basis, bu). The following evaluations were carried out: sensorial analysis of the beverage according to the SCAA methodology, analysis of grain sieves according to the Official BrazilianCoffee Classification Protocol. The results show that all evaluated cultivars have a great potential for the production of specialty coffees in that studied environment. Differences were observed between cultivars both in the sensory quality of the beverage and in the grain size. Cultivar Arara presents a general average of final beverage grade higher than the other cultivars. Key-words: Arabica coffee; Coffee sieve size; natural processing; pulped cherries; specialty coffee.