Estudo do processo fermentativo e sua relação com a qualidade do café na região do cerrado mineiro

Abstract

Brazil stands out in the international market as the largest producer and exporter of coffee and also as one of the largest consumers of the drink, and in this scenario of growing demand, in which consumers seek, in addition to the quality of the drink, an experience in the consumption of special coffees, which are associated with a diversity of flavors and aromas. Among the post-harvest processes, fermentation can add relevant attributes such as flavor, aroma and acidity, which result from chemical, physiological and metabolic changes in the process. Thus, the objective of this work was to apply the methodology of sensory analysis of specialty coffees proposed by the Specialty Coffee Association for the qualification of the quality of Catuaí IAC 144 coffee, harvest 2022, in methodologies of fermentation processes, and to evaluate the occurrence of possible relationships with the sensory profiles found in the final drink in the cup. In the experiment, 24 bioreactors of 200 liters were used, plus two controls, one Cherry and one Peeled Cherry, with dry and submerged processing, with and without commercial inoculum, at times of 24, 48 and 72 hours for both coffees. The results showed that the Specialty Coffee Association methodology made it possible to distinguish the quality of the coffee drinks evaluated in the different processing methods, presenting a superior quality for the drinks and for this work, the best evaluated answers were for the fermentation times of 72 hours with dry processing, cherry fruit and inoculum, showing that coffee fermentation contributed to obtaining a quality drink with intrinsic sensory attributes.