Performance of indigenous microbiota and wild-type Pichia kluyveri in fermentation for quality improvement of Coffea canephora based on chemical and sensory characteristics.

This paper investigated the performance of wild-type Pichia kluyveri inoculation and indigenous microbiota during the fermentation of C. canephora var. Conilon to improve beverage quality. We assessed both the conventional dry-fermentation method and the self-induced anaerobiosis fermentation (SIAF) process over seven days. The highest sensory score occurred after four days of SIAF with P. kluyveri, yielding an increase of 7.1 points (84.4 total points). The conventional method largely preserved the native acid profile, whereas SIAF progressively reduced tartaric and succinic acids while increasing lactic acid. Ethyl phenylacetate was detected only in the SIAF treatment inoculated with P. kluyveri after three days of fermentation. Although P. kluyveri did not significantly alter total organic acid concentrations (p < 0.05), it enhanced several volatile compounds, including esters, ketones, and pyrazines. Overall, the appropriate application of SIAF, with or without inoculation, shows strong potential to improve the quality of C. canephora coffee.