Physicochemical Characteristics and Volatile Compounds Analysis of Coffee Brews according to Coffee Bean Grinding Grade

In this study, we investigated the physicochemical properties of coffee brews according to coffee bean grinding grade. We also examined the effect of grinding grade on amounts of volatile flavor compounds. Coffee brew samples were separated using standard sieves (with pore sizes of 850, 600, and 425 μm), making particle sizes of ground beans as follows: whole bean (control), 850 μm or more (coarse), 850~600 μm (medium), 600~425 μm (fine), and 425 μm or less (very fine). For each particle size category, pH, total acidity, brown color intensity, chromaticity, total phenolic content, caffeine content, chlorogenic acid content, and total amounts of volatile flavor compounds generated were compared and analyzed. As grinding grade decreased, pH and brown color intensity increased from 4.84 to 5.18 and from 0.257 to 0.284, respectively, whereas total acidity decreased from 0.31 to 0.17%. As grinding grade decreased, the L* and a* color values decreased; however, L* value did not exhibit a significant difference depending on the grinding grade. The b* value was 15.75 in the very fine size category, which showed the highest yellowness. There was an 11 or higher color difference between the control and ground coffee powder, indicating a remarkable color difference. The total phenolic, caffeine, and chlorogenic acid contents of the coffee brewed from ground beans with a very fine size were 4.54 mg gallic acid equivalent/mL, 733.0 μg/mL, and 383.7 μg/mL, respectively, which were high values. The total amounts of volatile compounds in the very fine size category were found to be greater than 100 mg/kg. In this study, we suggest the basis for coffee quality evaluation, which involves evaluating changes in the physicochemical properties and amounts of flavor compounds of coffee relative to the grinding grade of the beans (basic step of coffee extraction).