TITLE:
Effects of the Orientation of the Mountainside, Altitude and Varieties on the Quality of the Coffee Beverage from the “Matas de Minas” Region, Brazilian Southeast
AUTHORS:
Williams P. M. Ferreira, Daniel M. Queiroz, Samuel A. Silvac, Rafael Simões Tomaz, Paulo C. Corrêa
KEYWORDS:
Top Quality Coffee, Mountain Coffee, Coffee Cherry
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.7 No.8,
June
22,
2016
ABSTRACT: Based upon
qualitative parameters experiments, this study aims to investigate how the
elements of the environment, where the coffee is produced, contribute to the
final quality of the product. For the analyses, it was used approximately one
kilogram of coffee cherry samples collected in 14 municipalities previously
chosen on the East side of the Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The coffee cherry
samples were collected and analyzed for each of the two varieties in four
levels of altitude for each exposure side of the mountain in relation to the Sun.
The quality of the coffee was evaluated through the analysis of its physical
characteristics and sensory analysis, popularly known as "Test of drink or
Cupping" carried out by three tasters that belonging to the group of
Q-Graders, according to the rules of national and international competitions of
the Brazilian Association of Special Coffees (BSCA). Were performed analysis by
means descriptive statistics, analysis of variance and multivariate analysis,
all of them aiming to study the individual sensory characteristics of quality
of the coffee beverage from the “Matas de Minas” region. Path coefficient
analysis also was carried out for the partition of the phenotypic correlation
coefficients into measures of direct and indirect effects, in order to determine
the individual sensory characteristics that played a major role in the beverage
final score. The results demonstrate that it is not possible to conclusively
establish the differences among coffees evaluated with basis on varieties and
environmental factors previously cited. It can be concluded that it is not
recommended to associate the quality of coffee only to a specific factor
whether from the environment or being it a specific of the culture of coffee.
However, the cafes that were evaluated had intrinsic quality, which were
derived from the specific characteristics of the “Matas de Minas” region where
they were grown.