Coffee-processing with 90% Less Water

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Coffee-processing with 90% Less Water

Coffee Processing Equipment Removes the Mucilage from the Bean with a Friction-based Method that Enables a 90 Percent Reduction in the Amount of Water Required to Process One Kilogram (2.2 pounds) of Coffee

Brazil, India, Thailand, Vietnam are among dozens of countries that process their coffee harvest with technology developed in Colombia, the world's largest producer of soft Arabica coffee.

Penagos Hermanos, a company founded 120 years ago in this northern industrial city, has become a well-known supplier of coffee-processing equipment, not only for the Arabica variety but also the hardier robusta species.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has recently assigned the company two patents: one for an apparatus and method for demucilating, cleaning and washing depulped coffee and another for a depulping device for the selective processing of mixtures of green and ripe coffee cherries.

"Having a U.S. patent protects you in other places due to the large amount of trade" conducted with that country, said Penagos' research and development manager, Elias Ariza, who told Colombia.inn, a news agency operated by Efe, that the company received a patent for an earlier demucilating machine 20 years ago.

The expert said this device removes the mucilage from the bean with a friction-based method that enables a 90 percent reduction in the amount of water required to process one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of coffee.

By removing the mucilate mechanically, it also obviates the need for a fermentation process that can take up to 30 hours.

Source: Latin American Herald Tribune

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