The Altitude of Coffee Cultivation Causes Shifts in the Microbial Community Assembly and Biochemical Compounds in Natural Induced Anaerobic Fermentations

Abstract

Coffee harvested in the Caparaó region (Minas Gerais, Brazil) is associated with high-quality coffee beans resulting in high-quality beverages. We characterize, microbiologically and chemically, fermented coffees from different altitudes through target NGS, chromatography, and conventional chemical assays. The genera Gluconobacter and Weissella were dominant in coffee’s fruits from altitudes 800 and 1,000 m. Among the Eukaryotic community, yeasts were the most dominant in all altitudes. The most dominant fungal genus was Cystofilobasidium, which inhabits cold environments and resists low temperatures. The content of acetic acid was higher at altitudes 1,200 and 1,400 m. Lactic acid and the genus Leuconostoc (Pearson: 0.93) were positively correlated. The relative concentration of volatile alcohols, especially of 2-heptanol, was high at all altitudes. Bacteria population was higher in coffees from 800 m, while at 1,000 m, fungi richness was favored. The altitude is an important variable that caused shifts in the microbial community and biochemical compounds content, even in coffees belonging to the same variety and cultivated in the same region under SIAF (self-induced anaerobic fermentation) conditions. Coffee from lower altitudes has higher volatile alcohols content, while high altitudes have esters, aldehydes, and total phenolics contents.

Chemical and sensory discrimination of coffee: impacts of the planting altitude and fermentation

“…These results show a variation in the chemical composition of the coffee in the function of the planting altitude. Other studies have also shown signi cant differences in the chemical composition of the coffees produced at different planting altitudes (Avelino et al 2005 andMartinez et al 2021;Pereira et al 2021). The concentration of acetic acid was greater in coffees produced at an altitude of 1,200 m than in the samples from the lowest altitudes (Martinez et al 2021).…”

“…Other studies have also shown signi cant differences in the chemical composition of the coffees produced at different planting altitudes (Avelino et al 2005 andMartinez et al 2021;Pereira et al 2021). The concentration of acetic acid was greater in coffees produced at an altitude of 1,200 m than in the samples from the lowest altitudes (Martinez et al 2021). Furthermore, according to Pereira et al (2021), coffees produced in altitudes of 300 to 600 m have about 30 volatile compounds.…”

“…This fermentation is affected by the processing of coffee cherries (Pereira et al 2020), the genetic variety of the plant (Bertrand et al 2006), and natural coffee microbiota (De Bruyn et al 2017). Another trend argues that coffee quality can be optimized with the application of microorganism's starters that modify the taste and texture (Bressani et al 2021;Evangelista et al 2015;Martinez et al 2021;Pereira et al 2017;Pereira et al 2021;Tang et al 2021). Moreover, the production of specialty coffees has suffered a profound revision in the form of processing, through the understanding and introduction of fermentation techniques, focusing on the observation of how chemical compounds interact with sensory pro les of the coffee drink (Avelino et al 2015;Brioschi Junior et al 2021;Pereira et al, 2018a).…”

Evaluation of genetic divergence of coffee genotypes using the volatile compounds and sensory attributes profile

“…These authors performed the volatile extractions in coffee beans fermented by dry method and roasted using solid-phase microextraction method, and the volatile compounds were identified by gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Using these analytic methods, Martinez et al (2021) observed about 60 volatile compounds in the coffee fruits produced at an altitude between 800 and 1000 m and fermented by spontaneous fermentation during 48 h. In 12 different cultivars of roasted C. arabica, 43 volatile compounds were identified using nuclear magnetic resonance and GC-MS (Wang et al, 2021). The coffee samples of these authors were obtained in five countries (Brazil, Colombia, Kenyan, Portugal, and Timor-Leste) that show different volatile compositions in coffee beans.…”

Chemical and Sensory discrimination of coffee: Impacts of the planting altitude and fermentation

“…This fermentation is affected by the processing of coffee cherries (Pereira et al 2020), the genetic variety of the plant (Bertrand et al 2006), and natural coffee microbiota (De Bruyn et al 2017). Another trend argues that coffee quality can be optimized with the application of microorganism's starters that modify the taste and texture (Bressani et al 2021;Evangelista et al 2015;Martinez et al 2021;Pereira et al 2017;Pereira et al 2021;Tang et al 2021). Moreover, the production of specialty coffees has suffered a profound revision in the form of processing, through the understanding and introduction of fermentation techniques, focusing on the observation of how chemical compounds interact with sensory pro les of the coffee drink (Avelino et al 2015;Brioschi Junior et al 2021;Pereira et al, 2018a).…”