Evaluation of sensory attributes of coffee brews from robusta coffee roasted under different conditions

Robusta coffee beans with a different initial moisture of 5, 7.5 and 10% were convectively roasted at 230 °C, microwaved at 700 W, and roasted by the coupled convective-microwave method. Sensory attributes of brews prepared from these coffee samples were evaluated. Final temperature of microwaved coffee beans was lower than that of the beans processed by the two other methods, which resulted in a higher content of volatile aroma compounds and a lesser degree of charring of their surface. Lower initial humidity of coffee beans shortened the time of roasting. However, the aroma developed upon roasting of the moistest beans was the most intense and pleasant. Modification of roasting conditions increased shifting of the overall acceptability of coffee infusions by 2 points in a 10-point hedonic scale, which implies that, if roasting conditions are adequate to the type of coffee, its sensory characteristics can be improved. Thus, optimization of roasting parameters can increase the share of robusta in well-accepted commercial coffee blends, a convenient fact because of the significant difference in price between the latter and arabica coffee.