Abstract
Introduction
Coffee is a popular beverage because of its pleasant aroma and distinctive flavor. The flavor of coffee results from chemical transformations influenced by various intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including altitude, geographical origin, and postharvest processing. Despite is the importance of grading coffee quality, there is no report on the dominant factor that influences the metabolomic profile of green coffee beans and the correlated metabolites for each factor.
Objective
This study investigated the total metabolite profile of coffees from different altitudes and coffees subjected to different postharvest processing.
Method
Arabica green coffee beans obtained from different geographical origins and different altitudes (400 and 800 m) and produced by different postharvest processes (dry, honey, and washed process) were used in this study. Coffee samples obtained from altitudes of 400–1600 m above sea level from various origins that were produced by the washed method were used for further study with regard to altitudes. Samples were subjected to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis and visualized using principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares (OPLS) regression analysis.
Results
The PCA results showed sample separation based on postharvest processing in PC1 and sample separation based on altitude in PC2. A clear separation between samples from different altitudes was observed if the samples were subjected to the same postharvest processing method, and the samples were of the same origin. Based on this result, OPLS analysis was conducted using coffee samples obtained from various altitudes with the same postharvest processing. An OPLS model using altitude as a response variable and 79 metabolites annotated from the GC/MS analysis as an explanatory variable was constructed with good R2 and Q2 values.
Conclusion
Postharvest processing was found to be the dominant factor affecting coffee metabolite composition; this was followed by geographical origin and altitude. The metabolites glutamic acid and galactinol were associated with the washed and honey process, while glycine, lysine, sorbose, fructose, glyceric acid, and glycolic acid were associated with the dry process. Two metabolites with high variable influence on projection scores in the OPLS model for altitude were inositol and serotonin, which showed positive and negative correlations, respectively. This is the first study to report characteristic coffee metabolites obtained from different altitudes.
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Data availability
The metabolomics and the metadata reported in this paper was submitted to https://www.ebi.ac.uk/metabolights/ with study identifier MTBLS1608.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Indonesian National Commission for UNESCO and L’Oreal Indonesia for the L’Oreal Award for Women in Science funding received by Sastia P. Putri and to Dr. Agung Wahyu Susilo and late Dr. Sukrisno Widyotomo of Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute for their kind support in this study. This study represents a portion of a dissertation submitted by Fitri Amalia to Osaka University in partial fulfillment of requirements for her Ph.D.
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FA and SPP design the experiments; FA performed the experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript; PA conducted sample collection, participated in experiment design; Y provided the sample, conducted the sensory analysis and aided in data interpretation; SPP analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; EF conceived the study and participated in its design and coordination. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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Amalia, F., Aditiawati, P., Yusianto et al. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry-based metabolite profiling of coffee beans obtained from different altitudes and origins with various postharvest processing. Metabolomics 17, 69 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-021-01817-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-021-01817-z