LWT - Food Science and Technology 74 (2016) 480e483

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LWT - Food Science and Technology

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Short communication

Good cup quality roasted coffees show wide variation in chlorogenic

acids content
Rodolfo Campos Zanin a, Marine^s Paula Corso b, Cíntia Sorane Good Kitzberger c,
Maria Brígida dos Santos Scholz c, Marta de Toledo Benassi a, *
a
Universidade Estadual de Londrina, 86057-970, Londrina, PR, Brazil
b
Universidade Tecnolo , 85884-000, Medianeira, PR, Brazil
gica Federal do Parana
c
Instituto Agrono , 86001-970, Londrina, PR, Brazil
^mico do Parana

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Chlorogenic acids (CGAs), of which the main representative is 5-caffeoylquinic acid (5-CQA), contribute
Received 5 November 2015 to the quality and health benefits of coffee. However, excessive amounts of CGAs have been associated
Received in revised form with a reduction in coffee cup quality. This paper describes the content of CGAs and 5-CQA in roasted
2 August 2016
coffees produced with different post-harvest processing (natural and pulped) methods and obtained
Accepted 10 August 2016
Available online 12 August 2016
from coffee quality contests in different Brazilian regions. These coffees differed in cup quality but the
roasting degree was standardized. The amounts of CGA and 5-CQA were determined by HPLC. The CGA
content ranged from 19.7 to 35.2 g/kg, and the 5-CQA content ranged from 8.0 to 16.4 g/kg. Overall, 5-
Keywords:
5-Caffeoylquinic acid
CQA comprised 38e50% of the total CGA. No relationships between the chlorogenic acid levels and post-
Coffea arabica harvest process, location and/or cup quality were observed. Even when comparing roasted arabica cof-
Polyphenol fees from different regions of Brazil and under different post-harvest processing, there was a wide
Coffee quality variation in the total CGA (180%) and 5-CQA content (205%) for coffees with good cup quality with a
Post-harvest processing similar roasting degree. Therefore, it is possible that coffees with good cup quality may also have a high
CGA content.
Chemical compound studied in this article:
5-Caffeoylquinic acid (PubChem CID
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
12310830)

1. Introduction GGAs, such as antimutagenic action, decrease in bloodstream

The primary coffee species that are commercialized throughout
the world are Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora. The former has a
higher cup quality and comprises more than 94% of Brazilian coffee
exports (ICO, 2015).
Phenolic compounds comprise a large number of compounds
that play a defensive role in the plant's adaptation and protection
against environmental stress (Farah & Donangelo, 2006) and that
stand out as the main source of dietary antioxidants (Gomez-Ruiz,
Leake, & Ames, 2007; Torres & Farah, 2010). Chlorogenic acids
(CGAs) are a major component in coffee, of which the main
representative is 5-caffeoylquinic acid (5-CQA) (Farah & Donangelo,
2006).
Many beneficial health effects are attributed to the ingestion of
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: rodolfoczanin@gmail.com (R.C. Zanin), corso@utfpr.edu.br
(M.P. Corso), cintia_kitzberger@iapar.br (C.S.G. Kitzberger), mbscholz@iapar.br
(M.B.S. Scholz), martatb@uel.br (M.T. Benassi).
glucose levels, cardiovascular benefits, and neuroprotective, anti-
inflammatory and antioxidant activities (Tresserra-Rimbau,
Medina-Remo  n, Estruch, & Lamuela-Rabento  s, 2015; Han, Omri,
Sasaki, & Isoda, 2015; Ludwig, Clifford, Lean, Ashihara, & Crozier,
2014; Frost-Meyer & Logomarsino, 2012; Johnston, Clifford, &
Morgan, 2003; Lee & Zhu, 2006).
The presence of phenolic compounds directly affects the char-
acteristics of a coffee brew, contributing to changes in color, flavor
and aroma during the roasting process (Farah & Donangelo, 2006;
Farah, Monteiro, Calado, Franca, & Trugo, 2006). However, a high
CGA content has been associated with a reduction in coffee cup
quality. Farah et al. (2006) observed that higher levels of caffeoyl-
quinic acids (predominantly 5-CQA) and their oxidation products
are associated with poor cup quality and with the Rio off-flavor.
Even in coffees of the same species, the composition depends on
the genetics, on agronomic and edaphoclimatic conditions, and on
post-harvest, roasting and storage processes (Kitzberger, Scholz &
Benassi, 2014; Garrett et al., 2013; Leroy et al., 2006; Silva et al.,
2005). Due to the genetic diversity, great variability of locations

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2016.08.012
0023-6438/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 R.C. Zanin et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 74 (2016) 480e483 481

and growing conditions, and the use of various post-harvesting
processes, Brazil, the world's leading producer of coffee, produces
a wide range of coffee products.
In this paper, the chlorogenic acid content was determined of
good cup quality roasted arabica coffees from different Brazilian
regions that underwent different post-harvest processing (natural
and pulped). The hypothesis of the research is that wide variations
in CGA contents may occur even in good cup quality coffees.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Material
is considered a medium roasting degree. The samples were sub-
sequently ground (Krups GVX208, Shanghai, China) to a gran-
ulometry of sieve size 0.84 mm. Roasted and ground coffees were
placed in plastic bags and stored in a cold chamber at 5  C until
analysis.
The samples were characterized using an infrared moisture
analyzer OHAUS-MB45 (Parsippany, USA) (105  C for 5 min) and a
KONICA Minolta-CR400 colorimeter (Osaka, Japan) with D65 illu-
minant. All measurements were performed in triplicate. The
average moisture content was 27.0 ± 3.0 g/kg, and the results were
used to express the contents in dry basis. The average brightness
was 25.9 ± 2.5.

Good cup quality arabica coffee beans from coffee quality con-
tests (State Contest Cafe  Qualidade Parana  2012 and National
Contest Cup Excellence 2011) were provided by the Agronomic
Institute of Parana (Londrina, Brazil). These contests were presti-
gious competition and award for high quality coffees and the
cupping evaluations were conducted by a qualified jury composed
by industry experts. The green beans from different Brazilian re-
gions were produced using different post-harvest processes (nat-
ural and pulped) and also presented diversity concerning cup
quality (Table 1). Samples of south region were from Parana  State,
samples of southwest region were from the States of Sa ~o Paulo and
Minas Gerais, representing the most important regions of arabica
coffee production in Brazil.
Coffee beans were roasted in a pilot-type Rod-Bel roaster (Sa ~o
Paulo, Brazil) to achieve a weight loss of approximately 17%, which
2.2. Analysis of chlorogenic acids
5-caffeoylquinic acid and acetic acid were purchased from
Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, USA) and acetonitrile HPLC grade, from
Fisher Scientific (Pittsburgh, USA). The analysis were carried out in
a Shimadzu Liquid Chromatograph (Kyoto, Japan) with solvent
pumping system (LC10 AD), Rheodyne injection valve (20 mL loop),
CTO-20A column oven, and SPD-10A UVeVis detector.
Samples (0.500 g) were extracted with 30 mL of water at 80  C
for 10 min. Extracts were filtered and properly diluted in the mobile
phase. A gradient elution with water/acetic acid (95/5) (mL/mL) (A)
and acetonitrile (B) was performed as follows: 0e5 min, 92:8 (A:B,
mL/mL); 5e35 min, 85:15 (A:B, mL/mL), flow rate of 0.7 mL min 1.
A 4.6  250 mm 5 mm particle Spherisorb ODS1 column (Waters,
Milford, USA) was used and detection was set at 320 nm.

Table 1
Content of total chlorogenic acids (CGA) and 5-caffeoylquinic acid (5-CQA) (dry weight) of roasted arabica coffees.

Sample Brazilian region Post-harvest process Cup quality CGA (g/kg) 5-CQA

g/kg % CGAc
a a a
1 South Natural Very good 19.7 ± 0.3 8.0 ± 0.1 40.7
2 South Natural Very good a 22.8ab ± 1.6 9.3abc ± 0.6 40.6
3 South Natural Very good a 24.0bcd ± 0.2 1.0bcde ± 0.1 41.7
a
4 South Natural Intermediate 27.1defghij ± 0.8 11.2defg ± 0.2 41.1
a
5 South Natural Intermediate 24.8bcdef ± 0.6 10.7cdef ± 0.4 43.0
a
6 South Natural Intermediate 28.8ghijkl ± 0.8 12.7ghijkl ± 0.1 44.0
a
7 South Natural Intermediate 26.8defgh ± 2.1 11.7fghi ± 0.6 43.8
a
8 South Natural Intermediate 31.8klm ± 0.7 13.4ijklmn ± 0.3 42.2
9 South Pulped natural Very good a 28.3fghijk ±0.0 12.1fghij ± 0.0 42.6
10 South Pulped natural Very good a 29.2fghijk ± 0.3 12.6ghijk ± 0.1 43.1
11 South Pulped natural Very good a 23.4bcd ± 0.0 9.7abcde ± 0.0 41.6
a
12 South Pulped natural Intermediate 22.6abc ± 0.9 9.5abcd ± 0.2 42.1
a
13 South Pulped natural Intermediate 26.9defghi ± 1.3 11.8fghi ± 0.5 43.8
a
14 South Pulped natural Intermediate 30.0hijkl ± 0.6 13.6jklmn ± 0.3 45.2
15 South Pulped natural Very good a 30.9ijkl ± 0.4 11.8fghi ± 0.1 38.3
16 South Pulped natural Very good a 22.6abc ± 0.9 8.8ab ± 0.1 39.1
17 Southest Pulped natural Very good b 30.3hijkl ± 0.0 14.4lmno ± 0.1 47.6
18 Southest Pulped natural Superior b 32.7lm ± 0.7 15.7op ± 0.3 48.0
19 Southest Pulped natural Very good b 26.5cdefgh ± 0.4 11.8fghij ± 0.1 44.3
20 Southest Pulped natural Good b 31.0jkl ± 0.6 15.7op ± 0.2 50.4
21 Southest Pulped natural Minor b 29.8hijkl ± 0.4 14.6mno ± 0.3 49.0
22 Southest Pulped natural Good b 30.3hijkl ± 0.1 14.6mno ± 0.0 48.0
23 Southest Pulped natural Good b 24.7bcdef ± 0.0 10.5bcdef ± 0.0 42.7
24 Southest Pulped natural Very good b 27.6efghij ± 0.1 12.5ghij ± 0.1 45.1
25 Southest Pulped natural Very good b 31.0jkl ± 0.6 14.2klmno ± 0.7 45.7
26 Southest Pulped natural Good b 32.6lm ± 1.2 15.0nop ± 0.7 46.1
27 Southest Pulped natural Superior b 25.4bcdefg ± 0.5 11.3efgh ± 0.5 44.3
28 Southest Pulped natural Superior b 28.1efghijk ± 3.0 12.9hijklm ± 0.7 45.9
29 Southest Pulped natural Minor b 24.3bcde ± 0.2 10.5bcdef ± 0.1 43.1
30 Southest Pulped natural Minorb 28.9ghijkl ± 1.7 13.2ijklm ± 0.5 45.6
31 Southest Pulped natural Very good b 22.4ab ± 1.0 11.1defg ± 1.0 49.9
32 Southest Pulped natural Superior b 35.2m ± 1.1 16.4p ± 0.9 46.6

Mean of triplicates ± standard deviation. Mean in each column bearing the same letters are not statistically different (P  0.05) from one another.
a
Coffees from the State Contest Cafe Qualidade Parana 2012 - IAPAR.
b
National Contest Cup Excellence 2011- Brazil Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA).
c
% of 5-CQA relative to the total chlorogenic acids.
482 R.C. Zanin et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 74 (2016) 480e483
Quantification was carried out using a 5-point calibration curve
with triplicate measurements in the range of 5e30 mg/L of 5-CQA.
The total CGA content was estimated by the sum of the compounds
detected at 320 nm (Corso, Vignoli, & Benassi, 2016).
A completely randomized design was used. The results were
analyzed by one-way ANOVA, considering the samples as the
source of variation, and Tukey test (P < 0.05) using Statistica 8.0
software (Statsoft, Tulsa, USA).
3. Results and discussion
The total CGA content varied from 19.7 to 35.2 g/kg (average
content of 27.5 g/kg) for the 32 roasted arabica coffees studied,
which differed in post-harvest treatment, growing location and cup
quality (Table 1).
The CGA content in the roasted coffees varies greatly, even
within the same species (Leroy et al., 2006), which could affect the
coffee cup quality. Variations in the CGA content of the C. arabica
coffees from different cultivars with different roasting degrees have
been reported (Farah, De Paulis, Trugo, & Martin, 2005; Perrone,
Farah, Donangelo, de Paulis, & Martin, 2008). Ivamoto et al.
(2013) suggested that the variance could be attributed to genetic
differences in the biosynthetic metabolic pathways of these com-
pounds. Monteiro and Farah (2012) reported similar total CGA
content values when comparing four Brazilian cultivars from four
to five consecutive seasons; however, the coffees were from the
same location and type (pulped).
In this study, because the roasting process was standardized, the
wide variations in CGA and 5-CQA content were attributed only to
the differences in raw materials (Table 1); the coffees analyzed
differed both in location and post-harvest processing and most
likely in genetic factors (cultivar).
A variation of 205% was observed for 5-CQA content, which had
an average value of 12.2 g/kg (Table 1). For Brazilian arabica coffees
from different cultivars and roasting degrees, the contents of 5-CQA
ranged from 2.2 to 31.0 g/kg (Farah et al., 2005; Kitzberger et al.,
2014; Perrone et al., 2008).
In general, the relationship between the CGA profile and cup
quality has been studied in samples with a high content of defective
beans. Farah et al. (2006) described that the 5-CQA content ranges
from 2.0 to 13.0 g/kg for good cup quality coffees (soft and hard
brews) with dark to light degrees of roasting. A 5-CQA content
range of 3.0e20.0 g/kg was linked to the worst quality product, Rio
zona coffee (light to medium degrees of roasting). High 5-CQA
content was attributed to a greater presence of defective beans,
mainly immature beans.
The 5-CQA content accounted for an average percentage of 44%
of the total CGA content (Table 1). The results were similar to those
reported for arabica coffees (44.7%e42.1%) with different roasting
degrees (Farah et al., 2005; Perrone et al., 2008). Although the
literature reports that the percentage of the total chlorogenic acid
content corresponding to the 5-CQA content varies with the
roasting process, more expressive variations (38.3%e50.4%) were
observed by comparing coffees with different post-harvest treat-
ments, locations and cup quality (Table 1).
Also, no correlation between the CGA levels and the post-
harvest process (natural and pulped), growing location or cup
quality were observed in the coffees studied. Similarly, neither Jo€ et
et al. (2010) nor Duarte, Pereira, and Farah (2010) detected a dif-
ference in the CGA levels of the green coffees submitted to different
post-harvest processes.
Although the samples were obtained from quality contests in
which immature grains and defective beans were removed, it is
worth noting that the contents of 5-CQA in medium roasted and
good quality coffees was generally higher (Table 1) than the
contents usually suggested for good cup quality coffees (Farah et al.,
2006). This higher concentration is an interesting result, consid-
ering the health benefits of CGA ingestion.
For the coffees studied, the content of 5-CQA was not indicative
of the coffee brew quality. Even coffees representing the extremes
of composition e sample 1, which had low total contents of CGA
and 5-CQA, and sample 32, which had high contents of CGA and 5-
CQA e were classified as very good and superior quality beverages,
respectively (Table 1).
The wide variation observed indicates that by using appropriate
harvest and post-harvest conditions, it is possible to offer Brazilian
roasted coffees with good cup quality and various degrees of CGA
content.
4. Conclusion
Even when comparing roasted arabica coffees from different
regions of Brazil and under different post-harvest processing, there
was a wide variation in the total CGA and 5-CQA content for coffees
with good cup quality with a similar roasting degree. In conclusion,
it is possible to offer coffees with good cup quality and a high CGA
content.
Acknowledgments
CNPq (Grant numbers 131516/2012-4 and 304747/2013-0) and
Capes by grants and financial support.
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