Effect of ripening and drying management on the quality of peeled cherry coffee

Abstract

Coffee harvesting is one of the most costly activities and directly impacts production costs and quality, so it is a step that deserves a lot of attention. However, one of the limitations of the harvest, whether in the manual or mechanized system, is the unevenness of maturation, which affects the operational performance and the quality of the final product, generating economic losses for producers.This research was carried out at Fazenda Santa Rita, in the city of Machado - MG, and aimed to evaluate the drying time, the physical and sensory quality of the peeled cherry coffee with and without ethylene application, submitted to three drying procedures. The experiment installed in a 3 x 2 factorial scheme (3 drying methodologies associated with and without the use of ethylene) in randomized blocks with 4 repetitions for each treatment, totaling 24 experimental units, with 30 liters of coffee each. 5500 liters of coffee were harvested from the plot that was submitted to the application of ethylene, and from the plot that was not submitted, processed until obtaining the peeled cherry portion of the lots. After drying, the samples were subjected to a rest period of 30 days, processed and sent for quality analysis. The quality drying time was analyzed through the cup test using the SCAA methodology by 3 classifiers from accredited institutions. Among the drying methods oriented concrete terrace, normal concrete terrace and guided suspension, the first is recommended because it provides less drying time and there are no differences in the quality of the coffee. The application of ethylene did not interfere with the evaluated characteristics.