Analysis of volatile profiles of green Hawai'ian coffee beans damaged by the coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei)

Abstract

BACKGROUND The coffee berry borer (CBB), Hypothenemus hampei, is the most destructive insect pest of coffee globally, causing significant losses in yield and leading to ‘off’ flavors in damaged beans. Automated headspace sampling (AHS) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) were used to investigate changes in the volatile profiles of CBB‐damaged green coffee beans. Green coffee from three coffee farms on the island of Hawai'i were sorted into three levels of CBB damage: non‐damaged, slightly damaged (1–2 pinholes/bean), and heavily damaged (> 2 pinholes/bean). RESULTS Distinct differences were found between green coffee bean samples based on the amounts of eight prominent volatiles. The amount of CBB damage was particularly correlated with the amount of both hexanal and 2‐pentylfuran. Principal component analysis showed clustering of non‐damaged green beans, which did not overlap with the slightly or heavily damaged clusters. Good separation was also found between a mixture of 50% slightly damaged and non‐damaged coffee. However, 20% slightly damaged and non‐damaged coffee clusters showed strong overlap. CONCLUSION Understanding the effects of CBB damage on coffee flavor profiles is critical to quality control for this valuable agricultural product. The results of this study show that the volatile profiles of green coffee beans vary with CBB damage. With specific volatile profiles for CBB‐damaged coffee identified, coffee samples can be tested in the lab, or potentially on the farm or in coffee mills, to identify high levels of CBB damage that may lead to off flavors and a reduction in product quality and value. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry

Climate Change and Coffee Quality: Systematic Review on the Effects of Environmental and Management Variation on Secondary Metabolites and Sensory Attributes of Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora

“…In addition to environmental factors, this systematic review found that coffee quality is sensitive to shifts in management conditions. For example, simulated and actual pest infestation was found to increase various coffee quality parameters (Vaddadi and Parvatam, 2015;Walker et al, 2018). This trend is line with previous research on the upregulation of secondary metabolite defense compounds with herbivory (Scott et al, 2020).…”

“…For example, the application of Rhizopus oligosporus and Aspergillus niger mycelial extracts as well as methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid resulted in increased levels of caffeine up to 42%, increased levels of theobromine up to 39%, increased levels of trigonelline up to 46%, and increased levels cafestol and kahweol up to 32% (Vaddadi and Parvatam, 2015). Walker et al (2018) found infestation by the coffee berry borer resulted in increased levels of key aromatic volatile metabolites often associated with off-flavors and aromas such as malty, green bean, and grassy attributes including the metabolites hexanal, 2-pentylfuran, 2-methylpropanal, 3-methylbutanal, 2methylbutanal, benzeneacetaldehyde, and nonanal.…”

“…Fifty-one articles included Coffea arabica (Arabica coffee) as the study system, 11 articles included both Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora (Robusta coffee), and five articles included only Coffea canephora as the study system. Three articles included one or more species in addition to Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora as the study system (Dussert et al, 2001(Dussert et al, , 2008Rubayiza and Meurens, 2005) while three other articles did not specify the species (Hamon et al, 2017;Hagos et al, 2018;Walker et al, 2018). Two articles assessed wild Coffea species as the study system (Campa et al, 2005;dos Santos Scholz et al, 2016).…”

“…The two articles examining the impact of pest and disease mitigation on coffee quality found an increase on multiple quality parameters with the exception of acidity (Vaddadi and Parvatam, 2015;Walker et al, 2018). For example, the application of Rhizopus oligosporus and Aspergillus niger mycelial extracts as well as methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid resulted in increased levels of caffeine up to 42%, increased levels of theobromine up to 39%, increased levels of trigonelline up to 46%, and increased levels cafestol and kahweol up to 32% (Vaddadi and Parvatam, 2015).…”

Characterization of Arabica and Robusta volatile coffees composition by reverse carrier gas headspace gas chromatography–mass spectrometry based on a statistical approach

“…The aroma of coffee is intrinsically related to the chemical composition of the bean, genetic strain, geographical location, climate, annual rainfall, agricultural practice and processing method applied (Toledo et al, 2016;Buffo and Cardelli-Freire, 2004). In order to characterize the species and the influence of geographical origin, some studies are focused on the identification of volatiles in green coffee (Flament, 2001), fingerprinting coffee flavor (Huang et al, 2007), discrimination of volatiles in defective coffee (Toci and Farah, 2008;Walker et al, 2019) and the effect of climatic conditions on the volatile compounds of green coffee (Bertrand et al, 2012).…”