Near-infrared spectroscopy applied to the detection of multiple adulterants in roasted and ground arabica coffee

Cinthia de Carvalho Couto*, Otniel Freitas-Silva*, Edna Maria Morais Oliveira*, Clara Sousa*, Susana Casal*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)
80 Downloads

Abstract

Roasted coffee has been the target of increasingly complex adulterations. Sensitive, non-destructive, rapid and multicomponent techniques for their detection are sought after. This work proposes the detection of several common adulterants (corn, barley, soybean, rice, coffee husks and robusta coffee) in roasted ground arabica coffee (from different geographic regions), combining near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and chemometrics (Principal Component Analysis—PCA). Adulterated samples were composed of one to six adulterants, ranging from 0.25 to 80% (w/w). The results showed that NIR spectroscopy was able to discriminate pure arabica coffee samples from adulterated ones (for all the concentrations tested), including robusta coffees or coffee husks, and independently of being single or multiple adulterations. The identification of the adulterant in the sample was only feasible for single or double adulterations and in concentrations ≥10%. NIR spectroscopy also showed potential for the geographical discrimination of arabica coffees (South and Central America).
Original languageEnglish
Article number61
Number of pages12
JournalFoods
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2022

Keywords

  • Adulteration
  • Authenticity
  • Chemometrics
  • Coffee
  • Infrared spectroscopy

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