Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 European Food Research and Technology https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-018-3091-7 ORIGINAL PAPER From the feld to cofee cup: impact of planting design on chlorogenic acid isomers and other compounds in cofee beans and sensory attributes of cofee beverage Maria Brígida dos Santos Scholz 1  · Cintia Sorane Good Kitzberger 1  · Noël Durand 2  · Miroslava Rakocevic 3 Received: 31 January 2018 / Revised: 3 May 2018 / Accepted: 6 May 2018 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Various chemical compounds in green cofee beans are precursors of cofee beverage sensory attributes. The hypothesis was that those chemical compounds would vary with microclimate over the vertical plant profle of cofee plants. The plants of the cultivar IAPAR 59 were grown in two high plant densities (6000 and 10,000 plants ha −1 ) under rectangular and square planting patterns. Cofee beans were collected from three canopy strata. Chemical compounds and chlorogenic acid isomer (CGA) contents were determined by near infrared spectroscopy and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, respectively. The free-choice profle technique was employed to estimate the sensory attributes of cofee beverage. Bright- ness, transparency appearance, typical cofee color and aroma, tastes as sweet, acid, astringent and bitter, and full-bodied texture were attributes detected by panelists. Plants cultivated under lower plant density had lower leaf area index indicating lower self-shading than under higher plant density. Cofee beans originated from the inferior stratum of higher density had the lowest concentrations of 5-cafeoylquinic acid (5-CQA), while the inverse situation occurred in their upper strata. Strata of lower planting density were associated to high levels of all CGA isomers. The cofees cultivated under higher density showed high lipids and CGA isomers contents. Under lower density, beans had low concentration of sucrose, proteins, and cafeine and high of CGA isomer contents. The beverage sensory attributes depended on the concentration of proteins, lipids, and sucrose in combination to CQA isomers in beans, varying over the vertical profle and planting designs of cofee plants. Keywords Coffea arabica · 5-CQA · Planting density · Planting pattern · Sensory attributes Abbreviations CGA Chlorogenic acid isomer 3-CQA 3-Cafeoylquinic acid 4-CQA 4-Cafeoylquinic acid 5-CQA 5-Cafeoylquinic acid 5-FQA 5-Feruloylquinic acid 3,5-diCQA 3,5-Dicafeoylquinic acid 4,5-diCQA 4,5-Dicafeoylquinic acid CQA Sum of cafeoylquinic isomers FQA Sum of feruloylquinic isomers DCQA Sum of dicafeoylquinic isomers Introduction The stimulating efect of cafeine is the principal appeal for cofee beverage consumption. However, the sensory attrib- utes of aroma and favor are essential requirements to main- tain and even increase the cofee beverage consumption. During the green cofee beans roasting, numerous volatile compounds are formed, which combined are in conjunc- tion responsible for the sensory attributes of the beverage [1–4]. The characterization of these volatile compounds and the sensory evaluations is complex, long-term, and costly tasks, and therefore, alternatives are proposed to evaluate the quality of the beverages. The association between the Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-018-3091-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Maria Brígida dos Santos Scholz mbscholz@iapar.br 1 IAPAR, Area of Ecophysiology, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, km 375, P.O. Box 10030, Londrina 86047-902, Paraná, Brazil 2 CIRAD, QUALISUD, Rue Jean-François Breton, Montpellier 34398, France 3 Embrapa Informática Agropecuária, Avenida André Tosello 209, P.O. Box 6041, Campinas 13083-886, São Paulo, Brazil