I-Corps: Coffee Bean Conversion as a Direct Additive Flavoring to Food and Beverage Products

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种以咖啡为原料的食品和饮料添加剂产品，为实现咖啡风味的传统方法提供一种替代方法。目前的方法是从煮好的咖啡饮料作为食品添加剂的前体开始，同时使用添加的化学物质来达到食品和饮料产品所需的颜色和风味。与目前的技术相比，该技术保留了更多的咖啡因和抗氧化剂，同时增强了关键的挥发性化合物，从而获得了更好的颜色、风味和香气。我们的目标是为食品公司提供一种更可持续、更方便、更健康的替代方法，以达到咖啡的味道。拟议中的技术对食品公司来说可能是一个有吸引力的选择，因为它将帮助它们吸引越来越有健康和环保意识的消费者。这个I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种技术，将整个烘焙咖啡豆转化为食品和饮料产品中的咖啡风味。目前的技术是基于水提取煮咖啡，喷雾干燥，浓缩，或冷冻干燥。拟议的工艺包括将整个烘焙咖啡豆转化为一种超研磨的单一成分调味剂，可作为食品和饮料产品的直接添加剂，以获得天然着色的咖啡风味。与目前获得咖啡风味的方法不同，这种方法消除了大量的水消耗以及废咖啡渣流，使其成为传统方法的可持续替代方案。此外，所提出的工艺已被证明可以产生最大的营养含量，增强味道、香气和颜色的关键挥发性化合物，并减少当前工艺产生的一些不需要的挥发性化合物。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development a coffee-sourced food and drink additive product to provide an alternative to conventional methods of achieving coffee flavor. Current methods begin with brewed coffee drink as a food additive precursor while using added chemicals to achieve the desired color and flavor in food and beverage products. The proposed technology preserves larger amounts of caffeine and antioxidants as compared with current technology, while enhancing key volatile compounds for superior color, flavor, and aroma. The goal is to provide food product companies with a more sustainable, accessible, and healthier alternative to conventional methods for achieving coffee flavor. The proposed technology may be an attractive option for food product companies as it will help them appeal to consumers that are growing increasingly health and environmentally conscious.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a technology for conversion of whole roasted coffee beans to achieve coffee flavor in food and beverage products. Current technologies are based on water-extracted brewed coffee that is spray dried, concentrated, or freeze dried. The proposed process involves converting the entire roasted coffee bean into an ultra-ground, one-ingredient flavoring agent that may be used as a direct additive in food and beverage products to achieve coffee flavor with natural coloring. Unlike current methods for achieving coffee flavor, this process eliminates significant water consumption as well as the spent coffee ground waste stream, making it a sustainable alternative to traditional methods. In addition, the proposed process has been shown to yield maximum nutritional content, enhances key volatile compounds for taste, aroma, and color, and reduces a number of undesirable volatile compounds that result from current processes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.