A new aroma index to determine the aroma quality of roasted and ground coffee during storage

The staling of ground roasted coffee blend was studied over one year of storage. Solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis was carried out to identify and semi-quantify 40 volatile compounds. We focused on volatile compounds related to the ageing of coffee: methanethiol, propanal, 2-methylfuran, 2-butanone, 2,3 butanedione, 2-furfurylthiol and hexanal. Changes in sensory properties of coffee beverage prepared from the ground roasted coffee samples during storage in laminate packages (PET/ aluminium foil/PE) under air atmosphere, under nitrogen or in punctured packages were determined. Samples were stored at (23 ± 2) °C and (40 ± 10)% relative humidity. The reference coffee was packed similarly in laminate packages under nitrogen and stored at (-20 ± 1) °C. Applying a statistical assessment of the results, we found the loss of most volatile compounds from all stored coffee samples, including even those stored under freezing conditions. The ratios of 2-methylfuran/2-butanone and methanethiol/hexanal proved useful indicators of staling. Our new proposed aroma index, the ratio of 2-furfurylthiol/ hexanal, proved to be the most effective, giving high correlation coefficients (R>_0.80) with aroma freshness for coffee brews prepared from the ground roasted coffee stored under different conditions at room temperature. Key words: roasted coffee, volatile compounds, modified atmosphere, aroma index, solid phase microextraction