STUDY OF FURAN FORMATION DURING COFFEE BREWING

Furan (C4H4O) is a small cyclic ether, classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as possibly carcinogenic to human (group 2B) [1,2].
It has been found in many foodstuffs processed by heat treatments [3], where it is formed through multiple pathways, such as Maillard reaction, carbohydrates degradation or lipid oxidation [4,5].
A very popular beverage that is also known as the most contaminated foodstuff by furan is coffee. The high contamination level is known to be related to the bean roasting process occurring at high temperature in anaerobic conditions.
Macrae and coworkers in 1985, showed that a small amount of furan precursors remain in coffee even after the roasting and grounding process.
The aim of this work is to study the possibility of furan formation in coffee beverages and related cross-products from the remaining traces of precursors within the brewing process conditions.