ROME, Italy – An identitification card to provide proof of quality and traceability of coffee – one of the world’s most widely consumed products – is the outcome of a collaboration between ENEA ( Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), the company Pnat (a spin-off of the University of Florence), the Accademia del Caffè Espresso (La Marzocco) and the coffee regulatory bodies of eight countries in Central and South AmericaÂą. The goal is to achieve traceability of premium quality coffee (specialty coffee²) and improve the livelihoods of smallholder coffee farmers whom often are the main producers of specialty coffees.
“This is a unique initiative because it aims to gain further knowledge on coffee and investigate the possibility to scientifically assess quality and characteristics of a cup of coffee, involving as many as eight producing countries worldwide,” pointed out Gianfranco Diretto, head of the ENEA Laboratory of Green Biotechnologies. “We want to be able provide barista training programs matching sommeliers’ training, to offer consumers a ‘journey’ through an array of coffee varieties, also creating differentiated payments based on quality, traceability and sustainability,” he said.
“Using state-of-the-art biochemical³ analysis techniques we identified the chemicals in 420 different coffee samples of more than 30 Arabica varieties, while a bioinformatics approach allowed us to show that the samples differed significantly based on the country of cultivation,” explained Alessia Fiore, project leader for ENEA and coordinator of the working group including Gianfranco Diretto and Sarah Frusciante.
“The geographical origin of coffee determines its molecular composition, as soil and climate characteristics of each region play a decisive role in the flavor profile and are directly responsible for the sensory attributes of the beverage, such as bitter taste, acidity, body and sweetness,” said ENEA researcher Sarah Frusciante.
“The most striking observation made by analysing coffee samples is how the variability of volatile compounds that define aromas and scents of green beans is affected more by terroirs than by factors that are considered more influential, like variety or post-harvest processing,” pointed out Camilla Pandolfi, research manager at the Pnat.
“Coffee’s identity is very often lost by transport from the plantation to our tables,” pointed out Massimo Battaglia, Coffee Research Leader at Accademia del Caffè Espresso. “Coffee is shipped over long distances, from Central America, Indonesia, India, Ethiopia, for example, where coffee is grown with great care and then processed and shipped to countries where often its history is very little known.
Our project will make it possible to enhance the value of coffee and its top producing territories and provide consumers a product used on a daily basis but about which we often know very little.”
The project will thus make it possible to associate sensory analysis with a chemical chart of coffee varieties, analysed to correlate chemical and organoleptic properties and the aromas in the “cup,” thus fostering enhanced traceability and control of high-quality origin coffees. The goal is to later expand the partnership to all major specialty coffee producing countries.
“The research activity with the Academy is just one of several actions undertaken by ENEA in this area. For example, we intend to study other coffee varieties with greater resistance to climate change like Coffeea Stenophilla, a wild Arabica species. Then there are joint initiatives with the Italian-Latin American Institute to optimize the primary production phase with a view to the circular economy, valorising all the residues and by-products of the production chain,” concluded Massimo Iannetta, head of the ENEA Sustainable Agrifood Systems Division.
Notes
[1] El Salvador – CSC, Honduras – IHCAFE, Costa Rica – ICAFE and Guatemala – ANACAFE, as well as ACE and Cup of Excellence.
[2] Specialty coffee describes high-quality coffees grown, processed and prepared with extreme care to ensure exceptional flavor and a superior experience. Often grown in specific regions with unique climate conditions and soils, they are evaluated by expert tasters according to strict quality standards.
[3] High-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry are two analytical techniques used to separate, identify, and quantify components in complex chemical samples.
