Changing Ready-to-Drink Coffee Aroma Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma

Coffee is one of the world's most consumed beverages, and its aroma plays an essential role in consumer acceptance. Ready-to-drink coffee is popular in many countries and can be bought with different flavoring agents. In this work, we evaluated the changes that can be made to ready-to-drink coffee by applying cold plasma to convert coffee volatiles, modulating its aroma chemically. To achieve this goal, dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) plasma was applied to ready-to-drink coffee at different excitation frequencies and processing times. Several chemical reactions were observed, and their routes were proposed. DBD plasma technology increased the relevance of the desirable nutty descriptor from 2.9 to 27.7%. The technology can also increase the significance of the fruity and green descriptors, which can be modulated to produce specialty or gourmet ready-to-drink coffees.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the changes that can be made to ready-to-drink coffee by applying cold plasma technology, which can modulate its aroma chemically. The technology increased the significance of desirable descriptors such as nutty, fruity, and green, allowing for the production of specialty or gourmet ready-to-drink coffees.