Potential Aroma Chemical Fingerprint of Oxidised Coffee Note by HS-SPME-GC-MS and Machine Learning.

Abstract

This study examines the volatilome of good and oxidised coffee samples from two commercial coffee species (i.e., <i>Coffea arabica</i> (arabica) and <i>Coffea canephora</i> (robusta)) in different packagings (i.e., standard with aluminium barrier and Eco-caps) to define a fingerprint potentially describing their oxidised note, independently of origin and packaging. The study was carried out using HS-SPME-GC-MS/FPD in conjunction with a machine learning data processing. PCA and PLS-DA were used to extrapolate 25 volatiles (out of 147) indicative of oxidised coffees, and their behaviour was compared with literature data and critically discussed. An increase in four volatiles was observed in all oxidised samples tested, albeit to varying degrees depending on the blend and packaging: acetic and propionic acids (<i>pungent, acidic, rancid</i>), 1-H-pyrrole-2-carboxaldehyde (<i>musty</i>), and 5-(hydroxymethyl)-dihydro-2(3H)-furanone.