| Rest periods during the coffee drying process may help improve the final coffee quality and reduce power consumption. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the moisture content of coffee fruit at the point when the drying process is temporarily interrupted on the quality of natural coffee using sensory analysis and electrical conductivity and potassium leaching tests. Ripe coffee fruits were manually and selectively harvested, sun-dried in a concrete yard for two days and subjected to mechanical drying in fixed-bed dryers. When the coffee reached moisture contents of 20%, 17% and 14% (wet basis, wb), the drying process was interrupted, and the coffee was allowed to remain at rest for 5, 15 or 30 days. Following this rest period,... |
