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Recent Developments in Coffee Roasting Technology

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Index Table of contents

Recent Developments in Coffee Roasting Technology

R. PERREN2, R. GEIGER3, S. SCHENKER4, F. ESCHER1

1
Institute of Food Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH),
CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
2
Present address: Keme Food Engineering AG, CH-5001 Aarau, Switzerland
3
Present address: Bühler AG, CH-9240 Uzwil, Switzerland
4
Present address: Nestec Ltd., CH-1350 Orbe, Switzerland

SUMMARY

Roasting of coffee beans leads to considerable changes in microstructure and structure

resulting in a remarkable bean volume expansion. The extent of the volume expansion
influences mass transfer during storage and has to be considered as important for bean quality
changes during storage.

Therefore, a concept for the mechanism of volume expansion was developed. During
roasting, structural cell wall polymers such as mannan, arabinogalactan and cellulose are
changing to a rubbery state allowing limited changes in volume, but preventing the beans
from disintegration. From DMTA data, a state diagram of cell wall polymers and coffee beans
was developed and the conditions for an elastic behaviour allowing volume expansion were
identified.

Besides structure resistance forces, driving forces are required in order to achieve a volume
expansion. During roasting, a considerable quantity of moisture and dry mass is evolved. The
quantity of carbon dioxide and moisture evolved during High-Temperature-Short-Time
(260°C 170 s) and Low-Temperature-Long-Time (228°C 720 s) roasting process was
determined online in the exhaust roasting air using Near-Infrared-Absorption technique
(NIR). In both processes a maximal moisture evaporation rate caused by the evaporation of
initially present moisture was observed before the roasting process was stopped. Under HTST
conditions, carbon dioxide evolution rate increased exponentially at temperatures above 180-
200°C, whereas under LTLT conditions, carbon dioxide evolution rate was rather constant
above 180-200°C until the end of the roasting process. Finally, the weight ratio of carbon
dioxide and moisture in the total roast loss were calculated and a mass balance for the roasting
process was developed.

INTRODUCTION

Roasting presents an important process step. The influence of roasting on coffee bean and cup
quality was put in research focus only since several years. In our work, we were focussing on
the influence of the roasting process on changes of microstructure and on the mechanisms
involved in volume expansion. In the work of Geiger (2004), the influence of structure
resistance forces and driving forces on volume expansion was studied in detail.

STRUCTURE RESISTANCE

Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis DMTA was applied for the identification of transition
phenomena of polymeric cell wall compounds. With DMTA texture modifications such as

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softening and hardening of materials can be identified and related to the changes of the
physical state of materials.

For the analysis coffee beans of different moisture content were cross-sectioned to slices of
3mm thickness and mounted on a DMTA Solids Analyzer RSA II (Rheometrics, Piscataway
USA) with plate-plate configuration. Then, the specimen were heated linearly from 30°C to
250°C with a heating rate of 5°C/min.

A DMTA thermogramme of a coffee bean slice is presented in Figure 1. Therein, the storage
modulus G’ is shown. The fast drop of storage modulus G’ between 130 and 170°C represents
a transition of polymers from the glassy to the rubbery state, the coffee bean texture is
softening. The storage modulus G’ increase between 200 and 230°C represents the reversion
of the transition, interrupted by a melting phenomenon of a compound between 212 and
217°C. The coffee bean texture is hardening again.

Figure 1. DMTA-thermogramm of a coffee bean.

There is a strong relationship between initial moisture content and the temperature range of
the glass transition. Because DMTA analysis was performed under non-moisture-controlled
conditions, the moisture content as determined immediately at the beginning of the transition
was taken into account.

By variation of the initial moisture content a state diagram for coffee beans was developed
(Figure 2). Because no sharp and pronounced transition was found in DMTA, the on- and
offset of the transition was used to describe the state transition.

In order to identify the compounds involved in the state modifications in green coffee beans
an adapted DMTA method was applied to analyse the behaviour of pure amorphous or semi-
crystalline polymers prevailing in coffee bean cell walls, namely cellulose, arabinogalactan
and mannan. The observed state diagram of coffee beans correlates to cellulose and mannan,
whereas arabinogalactan melted completely above 210°C. Probably, the melting phenomenon
observed in DMTA analysis was caused by arabinogalactan.

Finally, a mixture of cell wall compounds representing the approximative composition of

coffee beans was analysed (Figure 3). In fact, the changes of storage modulus G’ were
comparable to structured coffee beans in quality, which allows to conclude that the overall
state changes in coffee beans are composed by the state changes of individual cell wall
polymers.
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Figure 2. State diagram for coffee beans.

Figure 3. Thermograms of coffee cell wall polymers, a mixture of cell wall polymers and
coffee beans.

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DRIVING FORCES

During roasting coffee beans are exposed to hot temperatures, where flavor compounds are
formed during non-enzymatic browning and pyrolytic reactions. Moisture as present in the
raw beans is evaporated, and reaction products from non-enzymatic and pyrolytic reactions
evolve.

Geiger et al. (2004) studied driving forces during coffee roasting in detail, where they applied
a high-temperature-short-time (HTST) and a low-temperature-long-time (LTLT) process with
air temperatures of 260°C for 170 s (HTST) and 228°C for 720 s (LTLT). Roasting was
carried out on a laboratory fluidized bed roaster as described in detail by Schenker (2000) and
Schenker et al. (2000) to an equal bean color, which corresponded to a L*-value of 22-23.
Sample size was 100 g coffee beans, the initial moisture of the beans was 8.3 g/100g wb. In
addition coffee beans were roasted which had been pre-dried in an air-dryer at 85 °C for 6
days to a residual moisture content of 1.1 g/100 g wb.

In order to identify driving forces the evolution of gases such as carbon dioxide and moisture
vapour were analysed during roasting by linking a LI 6400 Portable Photosynthesis System
(LI-COR Inc., Lincoln, Nebraska) to the exhaust air tube of laboratory roasting machine. An
aliquote of the air (< 0.2%) was lead from the exhaust air tube to the detector. In order to
compensate for potential variations of air velocity over the exhaust tube cross section (r =
0.05 m) the sampling tube (r = 0.0025 m) was positioned in the exhaust tube.

Figure 4. Bean center temperature, moisture content and roast loss during HTST and
LTLT roasting.

Figure 4 shows the development of coffee bean core temperature, roast loss and moisture
content of beans during the isothermal high-temperature-short time (HTST) and low-

454
temperature-long time (LTLT) roasting process to equal bean color and roast loss. The
increase of roast loss and the decrease of moisture content were almost linear at HTST
conditions. Only towards the end, the curve for moisture content started to level off. In
contrast, exponential curves over the roasting time were observed at LTLT conditions for both
roast loss and moisture content. As a consequence, the roasting temperature is the most
decisive parameter in controlling overall changes in coffee beans.

The evolution of carbon dioxide is presented in Figure 5. The carbon dioxide concentration
increased sharply in the end phase of HTST roasting while the concentration in LTLT
roasting stayed much lower and levelled off in the end phase. One could imagine that HTST
roasting moved towards pyrolytic conditions at the end of the process. The cumulative value
show that more carbon dioxide evolves in the LTLT process than in the HTST process due to
the much longer roasting time.

Figure 5. Evolution rate and cumulative evolution of carbon dioxide during HTST and
LTLT roasting.

The cumulative values in Figure 5 do not reflect the quantity of carbon dioxide formed
completely. A substantial part of this quantity is trapped in the coffee beans and is released
only during storage. Therefore, cumulative values of evolved carbon dioxide during roasting
and storage were combined in Figure 6. Roast loss and storage time, respectively, were
chosen as independent variables for the two steps. The lower gas evolution during HTST
roasting is more than compensated during storage by a much higher cumulative gas release.
Under the given roasting conditions, HTST and LTLT roasting result in an almost equal total
formation and evolution of carbon dioxide. Total carbon dioxide formation and evolution
seems to be in particular dependent from roast degree and to a reduced extent from roasting
temperature.

455
Figure 6. Cumulative evolution of carbon dioxide during LTLT and HTST roasting and
during subsequent storage.

Figure 7. Moisture evaporation rate and cumulative moisture evaporation during LTLT
and HTST roasting.

Figure 7 presents the averaged data for water evaporation during roasting. Both roasting
processes lead to a peak evaporation rate and a subsequent decrease. The HTST and LTLT
456
process differ primarily in the extent of the peak rate. Moisture evaporation rate depends on
the roasting temperature.

The cumulative evaporated quantity of water is composed of water, which evaporates due to
dehydration of initial moisture of coffee beans, and of water which is generated by chemical
reactions. To evaluate the formation of moisture in chemical reactions, HTST and LTLT
roasting trials with pre-dried beans (1.1 g/100 g wb) were carried out. It was assumed that in
this case the detected moisture in the exhaust air was exclusively formed by chemical
reactions due to a negligible initial water content of the green coffee. In Figure 8 the chemical
reaction water and the initial water evaporation rates are shown. The evaporation rate of initial
water was calculated from the difference between the evaporation rate of total moisture during
roasting of non pre-dried coffee (water content: 8.30 g/100 g wb) and the evaporation rate of
total moisture during roasting of pre-dried coffee.

Figure 8. Evaporation rate of total moisture, initial moisture and chemical reaction
water during HTST and LTLT roasting.

Water evaporation is temperature dependent. The peak rate for HTST roasting was higher
than the peak rate under LTLT roasting conditions, whereas more moisture evaporates during
LTLT roasting due to the much longer roasting time. In an early roasting phase of both
roasting processes only initial water has been released from the beans. With increasing
roasting time, in particular to see for LTLT roasting, total moisture evaporation mainly
consists of evaporating chemical reaction water. Initial water evaporation became almost
negligible after approximately 300 s and the formation and evaporation of chemical reaction
water were equaled. The peak rate of total moisture evaporation is due to the overlapping
effect of initial and chemical reaction water. The decrease of chemical reaction water
evaporation could be the consequence of running out of the substrate or formed chemical
reaction water will be used in the cells for other chemical reactions and will therefore not

457
occur in the exhaust air. It seems in Figure 8 that chemical reaction water was already
produced from the beginning of the process. In fact, most of the residual moisture of 1.1
g/100g wb in the pre-dried green beans had to be removed first before the effective chemical
reaction water could be detected. The evaporated moisture from the pre-dried coffee,
considered as chemical reaction water, amounted for 41% (HTST) and 36% (LTLT)
respectively of total moisture evaporation from the non pre-dried green coffee.

In Table 1, a mass balance over roasting and storage is presented on the basis of evolved
carbon dioxide, evaporated water and losses of solids in the form of silver chaffs. An
estimation of the loss of gases during the cooling step was done by linear extension of the
cumulative carbon dioxide and moisture evaporation values for another 20 s after the end of
roasting. A standard deviation of the evolved carbon dioxide and moisture was calculated
from the deviation of air velocity and gas concentration measurements.

Table 1. Mass balance for the roasting and storage of coffee beans
and comparison with overall roast loss.

Weight [g]
Step
HTST LTLT
Initial beans
Total solids 091.70 091.70
Moisture 008.30 ± 0.2 008.30 ± 0.2
Sum 100.00 100.00
Roasting loss (on-line)
Carbon dioxide 000.4 ± 0.0 000.50 ± 0.3
Total water 010.20 ± 1.2 011.40 ± 1.4
Silver chaff 001.0 001.0
Sum 011.60 ± 1.2 012.90 ± 1.7
Cooling loss (calculated)
Carbon dioxide 0.1 ± 0.0 0.0 ± 0.0
Water 1.6 ± 0.2 0.1 ± 0.0
Sum 1.7 ± 0.2 0.1 ± 0.0
Total weight loss
013.30 ± 1.4 013.00 ± 1.7
(on-line/calculated)
Roast loss (gravimetric) 015.38 ± 0.05 015.86 ± 0.02
Storage loss
Carbon dioxide 0 0.99 ± 0.02 0 0.83 ± 0.01

Taking the variations of the data in Table 1 into account, approximately 93% (LTLT) and
96% (HTST) of the gravimetrically determined roast loss could be explained by measuring
gas evolution and determination of silver chaff. It must be pointed out that the balance values
in Table 1 still do not account for all of the roast loss. Material from abrasion, e.g. tippings,
and evolving gases other than CO2 and water vapor also contribute to the total roast loss. The
remaining difference for both roasting processes could be explained by inaccuracies of air
velocity and gas concentration measurements as well as by inaccuracies of the raw material.

In Figure 9 the volume expansion rate is plotted in combination with total gas evolution rate
and moisture evaporation rate. It becomes obvious that the evaporation of moisture presents a
very strong driving force for volume expansion. It is worth mentioning, that the highest
volume expansion rate is reached even before moisture evaporation has peaked. Carbon
dioxide evolution is of minor importance only, but in case of HTST roasting contributes to an
458
 increase in volume expansion rate at the end of the roasting process because it restrengthens
the total gas evolution.

Figure 9. Characterisation of the driving forces during HTST and LTLT roasting.

PROCESS OPTIMIZATION

The observed volume expansion is of major concern for storage stability of roasted coffee
beans. The degradation of cellular and subcellular microstructure represents a sink for mass
transfer from the environment. Furthermore, the increase in porous volume and porosity
accelerates mass transfer. Both are a consequence of volume expansion and allow oxidation to
start. Furthermore, carbon dioxide released from the coffee beans after roasting may lead to
an aroma stripping. Therefore, it will be crucial to achieve an optimal balance of volume
expansion allowing optimal extractability and minimal mass transfer during storage.

As a next step in the investigations on coffee roasting processes we will investigate the
influence of evolution of carbon dioxide and water vapor during roasting on the development
of coffee been structure, the aroma retention and the aroma release during roasting and
storage.

REFERENCES

Schenker S. 2000. Investigations on the hot air roasting of coffee beans. [DPhil thesis].
Zurich, Switzerland: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH); Number 13620.
Schenker S, Handschin S, Frey B, Perren R, Escher F. 2000. Pore structure of coffee beans
affected by roasting conditions. J Food Sci 65 (3): 452-57.
Geiger R. 2004. Development of coffee bean structure during roasting – Investigations on
resistance and driving forces. [DPhil thesis]. Zurich, Switzerland: Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology (ETH); Number 15430.
Geiger R., Perren R., Kuenzli R., Escher F. 2004. Carbon dioxide evolution and moisture
evaporation during roasting of coffee beans. Journal of Food Science (in press).

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