Application of biochemical analysis in coffee quality testing
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Quality is one of the criteria that helps farmers and suppliers improve profit margins while enhancing the market’s brand position. This is also an important factor in consumers’ purchasing decisions. Nowadays, coffee quality can not only be expressed by physical and sensory components but also determined through biochemical analysis. What is biochemical analysis and how is it applied in coffee quality testing? Find out with 43 Factory Coffee Roaster!
What is biochemical analysis?
According to the scientific journal Seamaty, biochemical analysis refers to the methods used to determine enzymes, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and non-protein nitrogen, inorganic elements, and other indicators in a material through various biochemical reactions. It is mainly used in testing in laboratories and hospitals.
Currently, some scientists have discovered that it can be applied to checking coffee quality. They believe that developing a system to quantify these indicators based on biochemical analysis will not only be faster but also more consistent, increasing accuracy for actors in the coffee supply chain.
Biochemical analysis refers to the method of determining other indicators in an object through various biochemical reactions
Scientific experiments applying biochemical analysis to check coffee quality
Typically, coffee quality testing is done by evaluating the physical and sensory characteristics of coffee. However, the results of these two things are manual and subjective, requiring highly specialized skills and knowledge of the practitioner. These manual quality assessment processes also take a lot of time, equipment, and infrastructure. Therefore, scientists have sought new methods to determine coffee quality as objectively as possible. One of the newly discovered methods is biochemical analysis.
To better understand the application of biochemical analysis in predicting coffee quality, CIRAD collaborated with IRD, illycaffé, Plateforme Metabolome (Univ. Bordeaux), and Eurofins (the world’s leading testing laboratory). Their research involves identifying biochemical compounds that can affect quality. In it, researchers use different techniques to highlight biochemical signatures within the seed and extract profiles. They then test the coffee’s complex chemical structure against cup scores and other quality markers and analyze as many compounds as possible in lots of green coffee. Finally, they used the resulting indexes to predict the overall quality of the cup of coffee.
The researchers used different techniques to highlight the biochemical signatures within the seed and extract profiles
The results of biochemical analysis to check coffee quality are highly promising
Although predicting coffee quality from biological markers is a complex process, scientists have discovered analytical indicators that can help predict coffee quality more objectively. Specifically, biomarkers of quality, such as the concentration of specific compounds present in coffee, can be highlighted through the comparison of bean biological properties and sensory properties of the extract. Based on this, scientists can determine the coffee variety, as well as environmental conditions such as altitude and sunlight intensity.
In addition, biochemical analysis also allows the operator to isolate the volatile compounds that create some of the flavors in a cup of coffee. This allows the coffee’s flavor profile to be researched, tested, and determined quickly and accurately. However, using biochemical analysis to check coffee quality still requires a lot of research and the participation of scientists.
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Information source from perfectdailygrind
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