Chlorogenic acids and other relevant compounds in Brazilian coffees processed by semi-dry and wet post-harvesting methods

The levels of nine chlorogenic acids, caffeine, trigonelline and sucrose were determined by HPLC-UV and HPLC-RI systems in wet and semi-dry post-harvested coffee seeds from 17 Brazilian Arabica cultivars and progenies. Coffees processed by wet method showed higher contents of chlorogenic acids (p = 0.02) and trigonelline (p < 0.01), and lower content of sucrose (p = 0.02) compared to those produced by a semi-dry method. Regarding caffeine, no difference was observed between both methods. The implications of the differences observed in the chemical composition of coffee seeds treated by wet and semi-dry methods on cup quality deserve investigation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.