No abstract

During coffee roasting major changes occur in coffee bean composition. Among others dark coloured melanoidins are formed, which are high molecular weight Maillard reaction products. A new approach is presented here to monitor the influence of roasting conditions on the antioxidant capacity of melanoidins and chlorogenic acids (CGAs) in a coffee brew. Validated Folin-Ciocalteu (FC) and ABTS assays were used as on-line antioxidant assays coupled (post-column) with high performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). HPSEC enabled the separation of melanoidins from CGAs and the determination of the antioxidant capacity of each fraction, within a total elution time of 25 min. Besides the on-line assay measurements, both assays were also applied off-line with flow injection analysis (FIA). The maximum antioxidant capacity was determined to be at a light-to-medium roast degree, measured with both ABTS-FIA and FC-FIA assays as well as on-line ABTS assay. With FC on-line assay the maximum was found to be at a very light roast degree. Based on the peak areas obtained with the new coupled technique the roasting effects on the variability of melanoidin and CGA contents in coffee brews were studied. The majority of melanoidins are already formed in the early stage of the roasting process and the relative contribution of melanoidins to the total antioxidant capacity increases towards darker roasts, mainly because CGAs degrade during roasting. A new parameter, the ratio of melanoidin to CGA peak area, was introduced as a possible predictor of the roast degree.

Coffee is a major source of dietary antioxidants; some are present in the green bean, whereas others are generated during roasting. However, there is no single accepted analytical method for their routine determination. This paper describes the adaption of three complementary assays (Folin-Ciocalteu (FC), ABTS and ORAC) for the routine assessment of antioxidant capacity of beverages, their validation, and use for determining the antioxidant capacities of extracts from coffee beans at different stages in the roasting process. All assays showed a progressive increase in antioxidant capacity during roasting to a light roast state, consistent with the production of melanoidins having a higher antioxidant effect than the degradation of CGAs. However, the three assays gave different numbers for the total antioxidant capacity of green beans relative to gallic acid (GA), although the range of values was much smaller when chlorogenic acid (CGA) was used as reference. Therefore, although all three assays indicated that there was an increase in antioxidant activity during coffee roasting, and the large differences in responses to GA and CGA illustrate their different sensitivities to different types of antioxidant molecule.

Palabras clave: café tostado, época de cosecha, análisis multivariado, nariz electrónica, origen. XEvaluación del perfil aromático de café colombiano de distintas zonas y épocas de cosecha, usando de nariz electrónica y análisis estadístico multivariado