Bianca Serito

The genetic conformity of the cultivated varieties of coffee is key for the sustainability of coffee growing. In the past years, various studies have shown that genetic conformity was overall low. This situation is mainly due to a lack of professionalization in the coffee seed sector. However, this can impact the economic performance of growers who expect yield, disease resistance, and/or cup quality from their coffee plants. With the sponsorship of Lavazza, RD2 Vision has launched the “Coffee Genetic Discovery”. The aim of “Coffee Genetic Discovery” is twofold: to democratize the genetic analysis of cultivated coffee varieties and provide guidelines for improving the professionalization of the coffee seed sector. Coffee growers (Coffea arabica for this first edition) from 24 countries took part in a draw. One hundred winners benefited from a free genetic analysis of their favorite coffee plants. Each grower received the results individually. Most participants were from Central America and Mexico (50%), followed by Asia (23%) and then Africa (14%) and South America (13%). A total of 73% of the participants had an idea of what their cultivar was, while 27% had no idea. Most submitted samples were from the Core Ethiopian genetic group, which includes Geisha, Chiroso, and Sidra, showing the interest of farmers for cultivars with a high cup quality. Two thirds of the supposed cultivars were genetically conformed, while one third was not. This confirms the need for a more professional seed sector.

Coffee by-products, such as coffee leaves, are components of the coffee plant that remain underexplored. In recent years, driven by efforts from both the public and private sectors to pursue circular economy goals, there has been a resurgence in the interest in coffee leaves for producing new products and diversifying the coffee supply chain. It is well known that coffee waste is a source of bioactive compounds and secondary metabolites, which have various applications in the food and beverage sector for producing functional food ingredients and nutraceuticals. Recently, coffee leaf infusions have been approved as novel food in the European Union, demonstrating the feasibility of marketing coffee leaves. To support their potential applications, it is essential to thoroughly understand the chemical composition and phytochemical profile of the by-product to guide future investigations. Omics techniques can be used to support the valorization process, collecting a large amount of information from a complex matrix allowing the use of coffee by-products as extraction materials for the discovery and recovery of functional compounds. The simultaneous extraction of polar and non-polar fractions and the subsequent application of liquid chromatography coupled with high- or low-resolution mass spectrometry techniques allows the simultaneous identification and quantification of several compounds through a holistic approach. Moreover, through the application of chemometrics on the spectral information, it is possible to highlight the main similarities or differences in the batch that could change according to their origin or the post-harvest process as well as discover new molecules with bioactive properties. The application of omics techniques provides support for the reintegration of coffee by-products back into the production chain, reducing the impact on the environment, providing new business opportunities for farmers and companies.