BYPRODUCT UTILIZATION OF COFFEE CHERRY AS AN ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE

Abstract

Coffee pulp, mucilage and mucilage with beans of ripe coffee cherries (Coffee Arabica L) from the Bhirgaun, Dhankuta, Nepal were subjected to alcoholic fermentation with the objective to utilize the byproduct of coffee cherry as an alcoholic beverage. Coffee pulp, mucilage and beans with mucilage were used for developing the alcoholic beverages. 45.3 % pulp, 54.7% mucilage with seed and 9.4% mucilage only were obtained during the wet processing of coffee. Must were prepared for all to TSS 18 °Bx and fermentation was carried out for 6 to 8 days until TSS decreased to 5 °Bx at 30°C. Phenolic characteristics, chromatic structures, chemical parameters and sensory characteristics were analyzed for the prepared alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverage from pulp was similar to commercial red wine where other two were similar to white wine. Among three preparations utilization of pulp is more feasible due to more yields. Methanol content, esters content, aldehyde, alcohol, total acidity, caffeine, polyphenols, flavonoids, chromatic structure and hue of the alcohol beverage from the pulp was 335 mg/L, 70.58 ppm, 9.16 ppm, 8.86 ABV%, 0.41%, 30.94 ppm, 845.7 mg GAE/g, 440.7 mg QE/g, 0.41 and 1.71 respectively. An alcoholic beverage from pulp was superior to commercial red wine and alcoholic beverage from mucilage with beans was superior to beverage from mucilage and commercial white wine in terms of taste, aftertaste and overall acceptability. All the chemical compounds in alcoholic beverage were within the range of standard wine paramaters. There is possibility of developing wine like beverage from pulp of coffee cherry and mucilage but further research is necessary for quality of the beans that were obtained from the fermentation with the mucilage.