Several factors can affect the quality of coffee, especially those related to the post-harvest stages of processing and drying. Some fungal species can associate with coffee beans during post-harvest, leading to undesirable alterations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of dry (natural) processing, on-land drying, and humid (pulped) drying on cement floors, which are methods traditionally used in the southwestern region of Bahia State, Brazil, on the incidence of fungi on benefited coffee beans produced in the 2007/2008 harvest. The experiment consisted of 4 treatments: a) natural coffee of Barra do Choça; b) natural coffee of Encruzilhada; c) pulped coffee of Barra do Choça and d) pulped coffee of Encruzilhada; and 5 replicates. Twenty samples of coffee beans were collected from different coffee growers in the above-mentioned cities. Results were evaluated using Bonferroni's T test at 5% probability. Significant differences were found between the analyzed treatments for fungal infestation. The genera of detected fungi were: Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium, and Aspergillus had the highest incidence, with eight species identified: Aspergillus ochraceus, A. niger, A. flavus, A. foetidus, A. tubingensis, A. auricomus, A. sojae and A. oryzae. The incidence of fungi was higher in naturally processed than in pulped coffee beans.
fungal infestation; processing; post-harvest
