All about coffeeUkers, William H. (William Harrison)
History
All about coffee
Ukers, William H. (William Harrison)
Coffee; Coffee Industry; Drinking customs
Comparison of the aroma given off by coffee during the roasting process
with that of fresh-ground roasted coffee shows that the two aromas,
although somewhat different, may be attributed to the same substances
present in different proportions in the two cases. Recovery and
identification of the aromatic principles escaping from the roaster
would go far toward answering the question regarding the nature of the
aroma. Bernheimer[146] reported water, caffein, caffeol, acetic acid,
quinol, methylamin, acetone, fatty acids and pyrrol in the distillate
coming from roasting coffee. The caffeol obtained by Bernheimer in this
work was believed by him to be a methyl derivative of saligenin.
Jaeckle[147] examined a similar product and found considerable
quantities of caffein, furfurol, and acetic acid, together with small
amounts of acetone, ammonia, trimethylamin, and formic acid. The caffeol
of Bernheimer could not be detected. Another substance was separated
also, but in too small a quantity to permit complete identification.
This substance consisted of colorless crystals, which readily sublimed,
melted at 115 deg. to 117 deg. C., and contained sulphur. The crystals
were insoluble in water, almost insoluble in alcohol, but readily soluble
in ether.
By distilling roasted coffee with superheated steam, Erdmann[148]
obtained an oil consisting of an indifferent portion of 58 percent and
an acid portion of 42 percent, consisting mainly of a valeric acid,
probably alphamethylbutyric acid. The indifferent portion was found to
contain about 50 percent furfuryl alcohol, together with a number of
phenols. The fraction containing the characteristic odorous constituent
of coffee boiled at 93 deg. C. under 13 mm. pressure. The yield of this
latter principle was extremely small, only about 0.89 gram being
procured from 65 kilos of coffee.
Pyridin was also shown to be present in coffee by Betrand and
Weisweiller[149] and by Sayre.[150] As high as 200 to 500 milligrams of
this toxic compound have been obtained from 1 kilogram of freshly
roasted coffee.
As stated above, the empyreumatic volatile aromatic constituents of the
coffee are without question formed during and by the roasting process.
According to Thorpe,[151] the most favorable temperature for development
of coffee odor and flavor is about 200 deg. C. Erdmann claimed to have
produced caffeol by gently heating together caffetannic acid, caffein,
and cane sugar. Other investigators have been unable to duplicate this
work. Another authority,[152] giving it the empirical formula
C_8_H_10_O_2, states that it is produced during roasting, probably
at the expense of a portion of the caffein. These conceptions are in the
main incomplete and inaccurate.
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