A comparative evaluation of methodologies for water content determination in green coffee

The main objective of this study was to compare methods for mass loss evaluation in green coffee to water content determination by Karl Fischer titration (KFT). The following methodologies were tested: (i) ISO 6673 (oven drying at 105 °C for 16 h); (ii) the reference method employed by the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry (oven drying at 105 °C for 24 h)—BRAMw, employing whole beans and BRAMg, employing ground beans; and (iii) infrared drying (IRD). Reference oven drying methodologies ISO 6673 and BRAMw presented results statistically equivalent (p>0.05p>0.05) to those from KFT in the moisture content range that is of interest for green coffee commercialization (8–13 g/100 g), whereas IRD results were lower than those for KFT. ISO 6673 and BRAMw also presented the highest values of correlation coefficients to KFT. Differences in moisture content determination became more significant for lower moisture content values (4–7 g/100 g), probably due to loss of organic volatile substances during drying and occurrence of moisture loss during sample grinding.