Origin of black-green defect in the artificial drying of immature coffees

The unevenness of coffee maturation leads to a large portion of green berries in the harvest. Post-harvest management techniques seek to minimize defects during the drying process, such as black-green defects in harvested immature berries. The present study aimed to investigate the minimum occurrence of black-green defects in the drying of immature coffee berries subjected to different temperature conditions and relative humidity values. In addition to fitting mathematical models to the experimental data, the effective diffusion coefficient and the water reduction rate (WRR) were determined. Nine coffee crops (Coffea arabica L.) of the Topazio Amarelo variety were harvested manually and selectively during the green maturation stage, with an initial water content of 2.106 ± 0.05 kg.kg-1 (dry basis, d.b.). After drying, the coffee was subjected to a drying treatment in a fixed-layer dryer with combined dry bulb temperatures (Dbt) of 35, 40 and 45 °C and dew point temperatures (Dpt) of 2.6, 10.8 and 16.2 °C until a final water content of 0.124 ± 0.05 kg.kg-1 (db) was reached. After drying, black-green defects were quantified as percentages. In addition to the drying kinetics, the WRR and effective diffusivity were evaluated. The lowest percentage of black-green defects occurred at a temperature of 35 °C and a Dpt of 2.6 °C (11.00%), which is the most suitable treatment for drying natural green coffees. The highest percentage of defects occurred when a Dbt of 35 °C was combined with a Dpt of 16.2 °C (14.17%). This combination showed the lowest effective diffusion coefficient of 0.551 x 10-11 m2 s-1. The Midilli model had the best fit to the experimental data for all drying combinations. The lowest WRR was 0.063 kg.kg-1.h-1 and was observed when a Dbt of 35 °C was combined with a Dpt of 16.2 °C. Keywords: Drying; Coffee; Diffusion coefficient; Mathematical modelling.