Diseño y evaluación de sistemas gastrointestinales in Vitro en base a microbiota de herbívoros y omnívoros para fermentación de café

Abstract

Around the world, animals have been used as in vivo fermenters, for example, the Indian civet which is used to ferment coffee beans. This type of process provides a unique organoleptic quality to the final product; Studies affirm that the microbiota that inhabits the gastrointestinal system of some mammals, together with the physicochemical conditions of the environment, give rise to fermentation processes that provide special qualities to coffee beans. In this sense, and as an alternative to avoid the use of animals for these processes, the objective of this study was to design and evaluate in vitro gastrointestinal systems, based on the microbiota of gastrointestinal systems of omnivorous and herbivorous animals in vivo, for fermentation of coffee. Therefore, in this work, in vitro gastrointestinal systems were designed and implemented, to later make comparisons between the organoleptic profile of fermented coffee in in vitro gastrointestinal systems with the profiles of coffee fermented in animals and conventionally fermented coffee (without the use of animals and with the natural microbiota present in the coffee pulp). Coffee fermented in in vitro gastrointestinal systems was found to exhibit unique traits in terms of organoleptic profile and sensory ratings like those of coffee fermented in an in vivo gastrointestinal system. Although coffee fermented in in vitro gastrointestinal systems failed to match the score of conventionally fermented coffee, it could be considered a specialty coffee