Swelling properties of roasted coffee particles

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In this study, the swelling behavior of roasted coffee particles in water and particularly its impact on particle diameter is examined by applying laser-diffraction analysis and microscopy. Several potential influencing factors are investigated: initial particle size, roasting degree, and temperature. Additionally, the time dependency of swelling and particle shape is evaluated at two different temperatures. RESULTS: We verify that particle erosion occurs – as observed by an increase of the fine particle fraction after wetting – and it is revealed that this effect is more pronounced with a rise in temperature. The total relative increase in particle size is determined as approximately 15% based on a broad range of different sized coffee grounds. It is demonstrated that the degree of swelling is independent of both the initial particle diameter and the roasting degree. The particle shape is found to be unaffected by swelling. This research reveals that swelling is initially quick, with 60–80% of the final steady-state diameter being reached after 30 s and completed after 4 min of wetting, i.e. within the timescale of conventional coffee brewing methods. CONCLUSION: This work provides a better understanding of the impact of wetting as part of the coffee brewing process, thus aiding the design, modeling, and optimization of coffee extraction. It clarifies the strong deviation of previous results on coffee-particle swelling by considering particle erosion and degassing and provides a robust method for quantification. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.