Understanding Fermentation in Coffee Processing
Coffee, like many foods and beverages, is a fermented product whatever the process used (except for mechanical demucilagination practice). Coffee ferments spontaneously with unpredictable indigenous microorganisms and during the different post-harvest processing steps.
Because fermentation is a biological process done by succession of microorganisms, primarily yeasts and bacteria, the use of selected LALCAFÉ™ products is crucial to better control this process and the quality of coffee.
LALCAFÉ™ selected yeasts play an essential role by breaking down the mucilage on the beans through their specific enzymatic activities. Additionally, these yeasts enhance the sensory potential of the beans due to their unique metabolic processes.
Selected natural LALCAFÉ™ coffee yeast and bacteria optimise and enhance the inherent advantages of coffee processing without the risks.
- In whole fruit processing, our inoculated microorganisms out-compete the spoilage flora hence offering a bioprotection benefit to the resulting clean natural coffees.
- In the wet process, demucilagination is accomplished through microbial activity.
Traditionally, unknown microbes yielded inconsistent results with greater potential for coffee defects.
Best Practices for Application
We have developed several recommendations, protocols, instructions of use of our products, depending on the post-harvest coffee processing, the coffee varietals, the fermentation conditions, the altitude, the quantity of coffee, and the objectives.
Our range can be applied for all processes except when mechanical demucilagination is done.
Processing Whole Fruit Coffees
When processing whole fruit coffees, it is important to add the microorganism soon after harvest. LALCAFÉ™ products release and convert desirable volatile flavour compounds. These compounds will diffuse into the coffee seed and ultimately be expressed in the cup when kept in contact through controlled fermentation.
Key Steps
- Spray evenly the rehydrated selected microorganism to make sure all the cherries or beans are in contact with it. Depending on the quantity of coffee to inoculate, we recommend to proceed layers by layers.
- We highly recommend to follow the temperature, pH and Brix throughout the fermentation step.
- to measure the temperature, try and reach the centre of the mass without moving too much.
- For the pH, measure at the surface by just stiring slightly to try and have an homogenous liquid.
Time of application
We recommend fermentation duration of: 18h to 96h to obtain a perceivable aromatic expression of LALCAFÉ™ yeasts.
- For dry process duration of 36h to 96h.
- For pulped wet process duration 18h to 48h.