Peaberry shape and size influence on different coffee postharvest processes Peaberry shape and size influence on different coffee postharvest processes

In many coffee-producing countries, the ellipsoidal-shaped seeds called peaberries are often labeled as a defect because of their shape and reduced size, going against the market demand for large-sized standard coffee beans. Nevertheless, the peaberry natural occurrence on the coffee plantations is significant, accounting for 5%–7% of the total harvested coffee for Coffea arabica L. and Coffea canephora, the most planted species worldwide. Nevertheless, recent growth in the peaberry market has happened due to exceptional cupping scores for this specific bean type; however, the relationship between these scores and the shape of the bean was not yet recorded in the literature. Therefore, this research aimed to evaluate and compare the impact of the shape and size of the peaberry against the standard beans in different posthar- vest processes: Drying, roasting (colorimetry and inner roasting profiles), grinding (compressive and shear force tests) and overall quality by cupping analysis. Coffea arabica L. var. Cenicafé 1 was used throughout all the experiments, where advanced methods were used to increase the accuracy of the results and deeply characterize the process behavior. The results of this research allow to understand the peaberry postharvest behavior better and add significant value to this often-underrated bean condition. The peaberries demonstrated shape influence in the different evaluated parameters, allowing them to dry faster, roast evenly, avoid burnt spots, and collapse at homogeneous forces while attaining the same high cup scores as a standard coffee bean.