Processing effects on acrylamide content in roasted coffee production

• Published in: Food chemistry 2020-07, Vol.319, p.126550-126550, Article 126550
• Main Authors: Esposito, Francesco, Fasano, Evelina, De Vivo, Angela, Velotto, Salvatore, Sarghini, Fabrizio, Cirillo, Teresa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acrylamide; Bromination; GC–MS; Process optimization; Roasting degree; Robusta; Solid Phase Extraction
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.126550

•Under certain conditions, some roasting degrees show too high levels of acrylamide.•Higher levels of acrylamide are related to higher percentage of Robusta coffee.•Effective clean-up methods for coffee extracts require the use of multiple sorbents.•The optimization of roasting parameters led to lower levels of acrylamide. Acrylamide is a toxic compound that develops during the roasting process of coffee beans. According to literature, the levels of acrylamide in coffee vary with the percentage of Robusta type in the mix and with the time-temperature parameters during the roasting process. Therefore, this study aimed to find the best roasting conditions in order to mitigate acrylamide formation. Two types of roasted coffee (Arabica and Robusta) were analyzed through GC–MS and two clean-up methods were compared. The best roasting conditions were optimized on an industrial scale and the median levels of acrylamide decreased from the range 170–484 µg kg−1 to 159–351 µg kg−1, after the optimization of roasting parameters. Therefore, the choice of the best conditions, according to the percentage of Robusta type in the finished product, could be an efficient mitigation strategy for acrylamide formation in coffee, maintaining the manufacturer's requirements of the finished product.