Enzymatic Hydrolysis as an Environmentally Friendly Process Compared to Thermal Hydrolysis for Instant Coffee Production

Conventional production of instant coffee is based on solubilisation of polysaccharides present in roasted coffee. Higher process temperatures increase the solubilisation yield, but also lead to carbohydrate degradation and formation of undesirable volatile compounds. Enzymatic hydrolysis of roasted coffee is an alternative to minimize carbohydrate degradation. In this work, products obtained from thermal and enzymatic processes were compared in terms of carbohydrates and volatiles composition. Roasted coffee was extracted with water at 125 °C, and spent coffee was processed by thermal (180 °C) or enzymatic hydrolysis. Enzymatic hydrolysis experiments were carried out at 50 °C using the commercial enzyme preparations Powercell (Prozyn), Galactomannanase (HBI-Enzymes), and Ultraflo XL (Novozymes). These formulations were previously selected from eleven different commercial enzyme preparations, and their main enzymatic activities included cellulase, galactomannanase, galactanase, and β-glucanase. Enzymatic hydrolysis yield was 18% (dry basis), similar to the extraction yield at 125 °C (20%), but lower than the thermal hydrolysis yield at 180 °C (28%). Instant coffee produced by enzymatic hydrolysis had a low content of undesirable volatile compounds and 21% (w/w) of total carbohydrates. These results point to the enzymatic process as a feasible alternative for instant coffee production, with benefits including improved quality as well as reduced energy consumption.