Study on the character of volatile flavor of natural coffee based on sensory evaluation and electronic nose technology

The study investigated 6 kinds of natural coffees based on sensory evaluation and electronic nose technology to study on the character of flavor of different coffees, which correlation was also analyzed. The result showed that there were the strongest caramel and resin flavor in Colombian coffee. Espresso released the most intense chocolate flavor, fragrance of flowers and grass fragrance. The most obvious fruit aroma appeared in Kenya coffee as well as nutty flavor and spice flavor, charcoal in Vietnam coffee. The coffee aroma of different origin was obviously different, which could be effectively distinguished by electronic nose and the PCA analysis method could be used as pattern recognition analysis for identifying different volatile coffee odor evidently, which illustrated that the electronic nose had the capability of distinguishing of different coffee samples. In terms of general characteristics of volatile flavor, espresso, Javan coffee, Kenya coffee and mandheling coffee were similar, and Vietnam coffee and Colombian coffee were similar. Results of correlation revealed there were good correlations between sensors S8 with fragrance of flowers, fruit aroma, grass fragrance, S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S9, S10 with charcoal. S1 and S2 had the best correlations with charcoal.