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River Water in Jimma Officially Effected by Coffee Processing – SCAA

January 18, 2012 · Filed Under Coffee Farms, Coffee Industry, Ethiopia, SCAA, sustainability · Comment

New Research Update: The Impact of Coffee Processing on River Water in Ethiopia

By Emma Bladyka, Coffee Science Manager, SCAA

A new study, published in theJournal ofEnvironmental Monitoring and Assessment, has investigated the specific environmental impact of coffee waste on river water in the Jimma Zone of Ethiopia. This research was undertaken by collaborators from Ethiopian, US and Belgium Universities, as well as the local Jimma Agricultural Research Center. The article was first published online on December 9, 2011, and can be found at the journal website.

Most of us are probably aware that coffee processing can use a lot of water and impact the chemistry of that water, but this has not been quantified extensively in many growing regions. It is especially important to understand this coffee-related pollution as we progress further down the rabbit hole of climate change and dwindling natural resources.

Interesting study! Considering that so many of us in the specialty coffee industry are also concerned about environmental responsibility, I assume this to be worth paying attention to for any buyers of Ethiopian coffee, especially from the Jimma zone. Solid wastes from processing (I assume this is primarily from the wet process mills) are seasonal (obviously), and scientists actually evaluated river water before, during, and after wastes were dumped to see how the normal river ecosystem is effected by coffee. The results are both better and worse that what one might expect.

In this study, the authors found significant reductions in water quality downstream from coffee processing plants during the wet season. During the wet season, they saw a large increase in organic loads, nutrients, and solids, which resulted in dissolved oxygen levels to as little as 0.1 mg/L water. They also found that during the processing peak that the average pH of river waters was lowered from 7 to 6.2. This combination of changes led to a decrease in diversity of macroinvertebrates.

During the dry season, the scientists found that the organic load, dissolved oxygen, solids, and pH had recovered to mostly normal levels. They found that the overall macroinvertebrate diversity was restored during this time period, but that the most sensitive taxa remained at low percentages, indicating a longer-term impact on the ecosystem. Interestingly, since the dissolved oxygen was reduced so drastically, scientists found that the water pollution by nitrogen was unable to recover during the dry season. This is because some oxygen is necessary during the nitrogen cycle in order to transform it to its volatile form and expel it from the river water. With this information, they determined that oxygen levels, organic load, and nitrate were all causal for the shift in invertebrate diversity. The authors considered this a very serious finding and worried that without fast action many of these rivers would pose a risk to not only ecosystem but human health.

I HIGHLY recommend reading the entire article, as it goes into more detail than I feel comfortable re-pasting here. It does take into consideration the idea of filtering the waste water before returning it to the river, as well as composting and fertilizing practices and possibilities with coffee waste. It also mentions that there are farms that do this, however, it does not mention any research into their overall effectiveness in preventing river water contamination. I suspect, however, that it is quite good, considering that the bulk of the problem appears to be solids. It appears that anything preventing solids from ending up in the river is a good thing.

Read the full article:
New Research Update: The Impact of Coffee Processing on River Water in Ethiopia – SCAA Chronicle

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Tags: Ethiopia, Jimma, River Water

Fat: The SIXTH Taste

January 16, 2012 · Filed Under Coffee Industry, Tasting, TX-Coffee · Comment

Receptor for tasting fat identified in humans

January 12, 2012

By Jim Dryden

Why do we like fatty foods so much? We can blame our taste buds.

Our tongues apparently recognize and have an affinity for fat, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They have found that variations in a gene can make people more or less sensitive to the taste of fat.

The study is the first to identify a human receptor that can taste fat and suggests that some people may be more sensitive to the presence of fat in foods. The study is available online in the Journal of Lipid Research.

Investigators found that people with a particular variant of the CD36 gene are far more sensitive to the presence of fat than others. …more

Scientists have agreed that the tongue can sense five distinct tastes but differed over whether our taste buds can detect fact. New research now finds that the tongue can recognize and has an affinity for fat and that variations in a gene can make people more or less sensitive to the taste of fat in foods.

Oh boy, if adding “umami” not long ago wasn’t enough, now we have “fat” as a non-aromatic taste. Will this effect sensory tests like the Q Grader test? Will this spawn new research by the GCQRI, SCAA, SCAE, CQI, etc?

There has already been some discussion about lipids in coffee, and how they are not true lipids since they are water soluble, but will this new discovery and its influenced research affect “legit” roast levels?

On the other hand, it could just be a trivial “huh.. interesting” facet of taste with the result of nothing changing within our industry. Interesting, nevertheless. What say you?