Information on Coffee drying

1 INFORMATION ON COFFEE DRYING AND STORAGE by Juarez de Sousa e Silva¹ Aldemar Palonini Moreli ² Sergio Maurício Lopes Donzeles 3 Sammy Fernandes Soares 4 Douglas Gonzaga Vítor 5 Note: This article was written to help extension service technicians (public or cooperative) to correctly approach or assist small and medium coffee producers who have recently been adopting coffee drying in fixed layer dryers. Unfortunately, sellers of such systems give incorrect information and, among them, claim that the drying capacity, the low cost of the dryer and the unnecessary stirring of the coffee layer make drying more economical and less labor intensive. Before studying drying and storing of coffee, it is advisable for the grower to learn how to correctly operate all the steps of coffee production, including the ideal harvest. If the operations prior to coffee processing are carried out in accordance with good practices, the production of high-quality coffee will be reached only if all the processing steps are correctly done. The grower must carefully take care of all details to maintain the quality of the coffee during all processes, especially in the first three days after harvesting. The operators must work to reduce, as quickly as possible. the coffee moisture content to 18% (wb). Below this moisture content value, the coffee is relatively safe, and the grower can easily control one good final quality. As there are several possibilities for drying the coffee, the technician responsible for installing a project must guide for the best option. He must indicate to buy or build equipment that is guaranteed and that provides the best drying cost. As we'll see, the most used technology doesn't always mean the best option; the reader will conclude that the drying of coffee is comparatively more difficult to be carried out than that of other products. In addition to the high sugar content in the mucilage, and the high initial moisture content, usually above 62% (wb), the spoilage rate is high. If the objective is to produce high quality coffee, the grower must remember that he will only have the first three days to avoid big reduction in the quality obtained at harvest. As is known, the maximum quality is in the ripe fruit on the plant. In that way, whatever the preparation systems are used, the following aspects should be highlighted: a) Avoid unwanted fermentations during harvesting and preparation and during drying. b) Excessively high temperatures must be avoided. The coffee tolerates 40 °C for one day or two, 50 °C for hours and 60 °C for less than an hour, without damage. 1: Professor Titular. DEA/UFV, Viçosa, MG – E-mail: juarez@ufv.br; 2: Ds em Agronomia, IFES/VNI, Venda Nova do Imigrante, ES - E-mail: aldemar.moreli@ifes.edu.br 3: Ds Engenharia Agrícola – EPAMIG – E-mail: slopes@epamig.br 4: Ds em Agronomia UFV, Embrapa-Café, DF - E-mail: sammy.soares@embrapa.br 5: Engenheiro Agrônomo, Bolsista CPC/EPAMIG, Viçosa, MG - E-mail: dougla.vitor@ufv.br