Post-harvest processing of coffee: An overview

Abstract

Coffee is known as one of the most popular beverages around the world. Coffee belongs to the botanical family Rubiaceae and genus coffea. The two most economically important species are C. arabica (arabica coffee) and C. canephora (robusta coffee).The health benefits of coffee are due to presence of many biologically active components such as caffeine, chlorogenic acid, nicotinic acid, quinolinic acid, trigonelline, tannic acid, and pyrogolic acid. The postharvest processing of coffee cherry involves dry or wet processing, grading, sorting, marketing, blending, and roasting. A series of physical and chemical changes occur during coffee roasting that are responsible for the development of pleasant aroma and flavour of coffee.