Chemistry of coffeeFrom the flavor point of view, coffee is very interesting. Of all the many varieties produced there are really only two main groups:
a. Brazil: Coffee with a rich mellow aroma and flavor which is full-bodied and has a fine acidity.
b. Milds: All coffee grown elsewhere including those from Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Cuba, Santo Domingo, Haiti, Jamaica and Sumatra.
The chemistry of the component of both green and roasted coffee and the nature of the changes which take place during roasting process, which is in effect, a mild pyrolysis, have been the subjects of much research and are as yet incomplete understood. At least 103 aromatic compounds have been reported in the literature but work is still in progress to establish their relative importance in the reconstruction of a coffee flavor.
Most of the components which have been isolated and characterized are derived from the water soluble components, mainly sugars, in the green beans. The fat, which is present to about 13% in the raw bean, is little changed by roasting: but it has the ability to absorb and so protect the aromatics as they are formed reducing their evaporation or degradation during the final stages of the roasting process.
Chemistry of coffee
