Roasting and Colouring Curves for Coffee Beans with Broad Time-Temperature Variations

The effects of time and temperature on change in bean colour and kinetics of coffee roasting covering pre-roasting and over-roasting condition were investigated. Arabica coffee beans (Colombia Excelso) were dried or roasted in an oven at constant temperatures (140, 180, 200, 220, 260, and 300 °C) to obtain the profiles of mass loss and colour change. Changes in roasting rate from the first stage (high rate) to the second (low rate) were found to occur at different levels of roast loss for different roasting temperatures. Roasting curves were obtained by normalising the data of mass reductions, which comprised solid and moisture, to the initial solid mass. Changes in bean colour were found to follow a certain path regardless of the roasting temperature, as shown by the characteristic colouring curve, and were less affected by the temperature compared to the roast loss. A method of predicting the bean colour during roasting was also presented by analysing the relationships among the L*, a* and b* values.