Discrimination of organic coffee via Fourier transform infrared-photoacoustic spectroscopy

• Published in: Journal of the science of food and agriculture 2012-08, Vol.92 (11), p.2316-2319
• Main Authors: Gordillo-Delgado, Fernando, Marín, Ernesto, Cortés-Hernández, Diego Mauricio, Mejía-Morales, Claudia, García-Salcedo, Angela Janet
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; chemical composition; Chemical compounds; Coffea - chemistry; Coffea - growth & development; Coffee; Coffee - chemistry; Coffee, tea and other stimulative beverage industries; Colombia; discrimination criteria; Food Handling; Food industries; Food Inspection - methods; Food science; Food, Organic - analysis; FTIR spectroscopy; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Natural & organic foods; organic coffee; photoacoustic; Photoacoustic Techniques; Principal Component Analysis; Seeds - chemistry; Seeds - growth & development; Species Specificity; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Spectrum analysis
• ISSN: 0022-5142; 1097-0010
• DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.5628

BACKGROUND: Procedures for the evaluation of the origin and quality of ground and roasted coffee are constantly needed for the associated industry due to complexity of the related market. Conventional Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy can be used for detecting changes in functional groups of compounds, such as coffee. However, dispersion, reflection and non‐homogeneity of the sample matrix can cause problems resulting in low spectral quality. On the other hand, sample preparation frequently takes place in a destructive way. To overcome these difficulties, in this work a photoacoustic cell has been adapted as a detector in a FTIR spectrophotometer to perform a study of roasted and ground coffee from three varieties of Coffea arabica grown by organic and conventional methods. RESULTS: Comparison between spectra of coffee recorded by FTIR‐photoacoustic spectrometry (PAS) and by FTIR spectrophotometry showed a better resolution of the former method, which, aided by principal components analysis, allowed the identification of some absorption bands that allow the discrimination between organic and conventional coffee. CONCLUSION: The results obtained provide information about the spectral behavior of coffee powder which can be useful for establishing discrimination criteria. It has been demonstrated that FTIR‐PAS can be a useful experimental tool for the characterization of coffee. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry