Abstract.
In this work, the volatile chromatographic profiles of roasted Arabica
coffees, previously analyzed for their sensorial attributes, were
explored by principal component analysis. The volatile extraction
technique used was the solid phase microextraction. The correlation
optimized warping algorithm was used to align the gas chromatographic
profiles. Fifty four compounds were found to be related to the
sensorial attributes investigated. The volatiles pyrrole,
1-methyl-pyrrole, cyclopentanone, dihydro-2-methyl-3-furanone,
furfural, 2-ethyl-5-methyl-pyrazine, 2-etenyl-n-methyl-pyrazine,
5-methyl-2-propionyl-furan compounds were important for the
differentiation of coffee beverage according to the flavour,
cleanliness and overall quality. Two figures of merit, sensitivity and
specificity (or selectivity), were used to interpret the sensory
attributes studied.
Keywords.
Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME); Coffee Flavour; Figures of Merit.
Keywords Plus.