Coffee is a favorite drink for many around the world.
But did you know that the way coffee is roasted can affect its safety?
Yes, during roasting, some harmful substances like acrylamide and furan can show up. A recent study looked into how we might reduce these substances by roasting coffee differently.
The research was done by Beverage Plant Research, and they shared their findings in a paper called Food borne toxicants in coffee: Acrylamide and furan derivative content in Arabica and Robusta coffees with different roasting profiles and varying degrees of roast.
Here’s a simpler version of what they did:
They took two types of coffee beans: Vietnam Robusta grade 2 and Brazil Arabica (unwashed).
These beans were roasted in three ways: tangential, drum, and hot air roasting.
They also tried light, medium, and dark roasts.
The researchers used a machine called GC-MS to see how much acrylamide and furan was in each sample.
What did they find?
- Light roasts had the most acrylamide.
- Light roasts had lower amounts of furan and something called methylfurans.
- They also checked what happens when coffee is roasted using special techniques, like roasting twice or changing the temperature suddenly. But these tricks didn’t really change the amounts of harmful substances in the coffee.
So, what does this all mean? The type of coffee bean and how it’s roasted can change how much acrylamide and furan ends up in your coffee. But the bad news is, it seems hard to reduce both at the same time using just roasting methods.
This research tells us that choosing the type of coffee and its roast can help control these harmful substances. Still, it’s tough to get rid of both altogether. This discovery is essential because it can help make coffee safer in the future.
In short, the way your coffee is roasted matters for its safety. Knowing this can guide better roasting practices in the future, leading to a healthier cup of joe!
If you care about nutrition, please read studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about plant nutrients that could help reduce high blood pressure, and these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.
