IPB University Researcher’s Innovation Delivers Delicious Luwak Coffee with the Help of Bacteria

Since the last decade, luwak coffee has become popular among coffee lovers. The specific flavor due to the fermentation process of the civet animal’s digestive tract has increased the demand for civet coffee, including from foreign markets.

So far, luwak coffee production has been highly dependent on nature, depending on the season of the coffee fruit, the size of the plantation area, and the population of civet animals. In other words, it is difficult to predict the amount of production.

With the growing demand for civet coffee, civet farming is now also being developed to produce civet coffee. However, civet farming has several disadvantages, including high production costs, considering that outside the coffee harvest season, civets still require feed. In addition, this can threaten the preservation of fruit mongooses in nature.

Seeing these conditions, IPB University researcher Prof Erliza Noor innovated to make civet coffee through enzymatic technology. This technology successfully produces coffee products with better quality and nutritional content than commercial civet coffee.

“Enzymatic technology is a technology that adapts the fermentation conditions of coffee beans in the digestion of civet animals. This technique was chosen because it is identical to the process of the formation of luwak coffee, where the luwak degrades the coffee skin and releases the beans in the feces,” said Prof Erliza in the IPB 2024 Research and Innovation Week event at the IPB International Convention Center (IICC), Monday (16/12).

In terms of consumers, the perception of coffee as a result of civet feces creates reluctance to consume civet coffee. Therefore, Prof Erliza said, making coffee enzymatically using microbes from civets is an alternative production process without reducing the quality and taste of civet coffee.

“Enzymatically fermented coffee for all treatments shows a greater reduction in caffeine in coffee beans, namely 48-69 percent compared to commercial civet coffee, which is 9 percent,” said Prof Erliza.

In terms of nutrients produced, enzymatically fermented coffee also shows an increase in the content of acids that are good for health such as lactic, butyric and ascorbic acids. Meanwhile, oxalic acid that harms the body is produced lower. 

“This data shows that enzymatically engineered coffee products have better quality and nutritional content than commercial civet coffee,” she said.

Enzymatic Fermentation Process

The professor of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology at IPB University explained that this enzymatic fermentation coffee invention has obtained coffee production technology by solid fermentation using enzyme-producing microorganisms isolated from luwak feces.

The process of isolation and identification of bacteria is specialized to obtain cellulolytic, xylanolytic, and proteolytic bacteria. These three bacteria produce cellulase, xylanase and protease enzymes, respectively, which are applied to the production of artificial civet coffee by solid fermentation. 

In this solid fermentation process engineering, coffee skin is used as a medium for the growth of microorganisms. The degradation of chemical compounds contained in coffee skins by microorganisms will produce enzymes that play a role in enzymatic reactions to change chemical components in coffee beans. 

Prof Erliza also said, microorganism isolates are added to coffee fruit before fermentation takes place. One of the important factors for the success of fermentation is the availability of substrates that fulfill the microorganisms during fermentation. 

“For this reason, the growth of microorganisms must be able to meet the needs of carbon, nitrogen, and some necessary growth substances such as essential amino acids,” she explained. 

Coffee pulp still contains compounds as a source of carbon, nitrogen, and minerals needed for microorganism growth. The degradation of chemical compounds contained in coffee pulp by microorganisms will produce enzymes. 

She elaborated that enzymes can be obtained from various plant, animal and microbial sources. Enzyme formation through microbes is more widely used because microbes can multiply in a short time and their growth can be controlled so that enzyme extraction from microbes is more efficient. (*/Rz) (IAAS/RUM)