Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Comprehensive Compositional Analysis of Plant Cell Walls (Lignocellulosic biomass) Part II: Carbohydrates
Published on: March 13, 2010
Fate of mucilage cell wall polysaccharides during coffee fermentation
S Avallone1, J P Guiraud, B Guyot
1Département CP and Département FLHOR, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), TA 50/16, Avenue Agropolis, 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Abstract:
Effects of a 20-h fermentation on cell wall polysaccharides from the mucilage of pulped coffee beans were examined and compared to those of unfermented beans, on alcohol insoluble residues (AIRs), their hot-water-soluble crude pectic substances (PECTs), and their hot-water-insoluble residues (RESs). Yields and compositions were very similar: AIRs, which consisted of approximately 30% highly methylated pectic substances, approximately 9% cellulose, and approximately 15% neutral noncellulosic polysaccharides, exhibited no apparent degradation. However, PECTs from fermented beans were shown to have undergone a slight reduction of their intrinsic viscosity and weight-average molecular weight by capillary viscosimetry and high-performance size-exclusion chromatography. After fermentation, hot-water-insoluble pectic substances of RES exhibited partial de-esterification. Removal of coffee bean mucilage by natural fermentation seems to result from a restricted pectolysis, the mechanism of which remains to be elucidated.
Related Concept Videos
Chemistry of Carbohydrates
Oligosaccharide Assembly
Multiple sugar molecules that may or may...
Cellulose and Pectic Polysaccharides
As a cell matures, its cell wall specializes according to its type. For example, the parenchyma cells of...
Role of Microtubules in Cell Wall Deposition
Microbes in Beverage Production
Production of Alcohol

