CHEMICAL AND NUTRITIONAL CHARACTERIZATION OF COFFEE PULP (Coffea arabica L.)

Abstract

Coffee is the second most consumed product worldwide, and for every two tons of processed fruit, around one ton of pulp is generated. The aim of this work was to carry out the chemical and nutritional characterization of the coffee pulp coming from a wet process facility. Moisture, pH, total soluble solids, total phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, protein, fat, fiber, caffeine and ash were determined as some chemical parameters; while for nutritional parameters the contents of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, B, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn and C were obtained. Results show that dried coffee pulp contains 4.09 mgGAE g^-1 of total phenols, with an antioxidant capacity of 132.54 umol Etrolox g^-1, a protein content of 10.63%, 5.78% of fat and 9.58% of ashes; including high values of main macronutrients and a C/N ratio of 31.4. These results show that coffee pulp is a rich source of essential nutrients.