STUDY OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS IN COFFEE

The use of plants for functional purposes can be an easy and viable option for disease prevention. Recently, the movement of the industry in the areas of food, cosmetics, medicine, nutrition and alternative therapies in the search for new research that enables the development and commercialization of nutraceutical products and/or products rich in bioactive compounds, including phenolic compounds, which have antioxidant, anticancer, cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory capacities, among others, is visible. Coffees are sources of phenolic compounds, such as chlorogenic acids, however, these are concentrated in green fruits that naturally leave an unwanted aftertaste, as they are characterized by great astringency and bitterness, and the controlled fermentation of their immature fruits has been used to eliminate these sensory nuances. In this context, this work aimed to characterize, extract and quantify bioactive compounds in roasted coffee beans obtained from fermented cherry:green (70%: 30%) (FVC) fruits, compared to those of natural cherry origin (CN). The methodology involved the collection and preparation of natural and fermented coffees, followed by the extraction of phenolic compounds and the analysis of the content of phenolics and total flavonoids, in addition to the antioxidant capacity of the respective samples. The results indicated a 56% increase in phenolic compound content and a 2.9% increase in flavonoids in the CVF sample, contrasting with a slight decrease in antioxidant capacity, which showed a reduction after fermentation, with a concentration of 93.67% in natural coffee and 91.84% in fermented coffee, suggesting the inclusion of a higher proportion of fruits in an incomplete stage of ripeness in the processing blend, used to compensate for possible losses with the controlled fermentation of coffees, done to improve the sensory.