Evaluation of green coffee beans quality using near infrared spectroscopy: a quantitative approach

João Rodrigo Santos, Mafalda C. Sarraguça, António O. S. S. Rangel, João A. Lopes*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

75 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Characterisation of coffee quality based on bean quality assessment is associated with the relative amount of defective beans among non-defective beans. It is therefore important to develop a methodology capable of identifying the presence of defective beans that enables a fast assessment of coffee grade and that can become an analytical tool to standardise coffee quality. In this work, a methodology for quality assessment of green coffee based on near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is proposed. NIRS is a green chemistry, low cost, fast response technique without the need of sample processing. The applicability of NIRS was evaluated for Arabica and Robusta varieties from different geographical locations. Partial least squares regression was used to relate the NIR spectrum to the mass fraction of defective and non-defective beans. Relative errors around 5% show that NIRS can be a valuable analytical tool to be used by coffee roasters, enabling a simple and quantitative evaluation of green coffee quality in a fast way.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1828-1835
Number of pages8
JournalFood Chemistry
Volume135
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2012

Keywords

  • Coffee bean defects
  • Experimental design
  • Green coffee beans
  • Near infrared spectroscopy
  • Partial least squares regression

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