Use of Cladosporium sp. as a bioprotector of coffee quality in different post-harvest conditions

ABSTRACT

The pre-harvest application of the bioprotective agent Cladosporium cladosporioides is an alternative to inhibit these fermentative processes that might occur in coffee beans that were either their storing bag or exposed to simulated rain, because a controlled amount of water was applied to the coffee. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of Cladosporium cladosporioides (Fresen) de Vries in the physical-chemical and sensory of the coffee beans. The study was conducted in an arabica coffee plantation, in the municipality of Inconfidentes, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. In this study used four different doses of the bioprotector and three different pos-harvest conditions. The sour defective coffee beans, electrical conductivity, total titratable acidity, soluble solids, color and it was determined the general quality of coffee of both the left-in-bag and rainfall-exposed variants were positively influenced by the bioprotector. The bioprotector promoted an increase in the quality of the physical and chemical composition and sensory quality of rainfall and left-in-bag coffees compared to coffee beans without bioprotector. The bioprotector also maintained quality in rainfall and left-in-bag coffee when compared with the yard-grown variant. The sensory quality of the yard-grown coffeed was not influenced by the bioprotector.

Keywords
Coffea arabica L.; biological agent; rain; bagged coffee; fermentation