Influence of coffee roasting on the incorporation of phenolic compounds into melanoidins and their relationship with antioxidant activity of the brew

In the present study, the influence of coffee roasting on free and melanoidin-bound phenolic compounds and their relationship with the brews' antioxidant activity (AA), evaluated by TRAP, TEAC, and TRAP, were investigated. Changes in the relative content of free chlorogenic acids (CGA), free lactones, and melanoidin-bound phenolic acids during roasting indicate that phenolic compounds were incorporated into melanoidins mainly at early stages of the process, being thereafter partly oxidized to dihydrocaffeic acid, and degraded. Although less than 1% of CGA in green coffee was incorporated into melanoidins during roasting, the relative content of melanoidin-bound phenolic acids increased significantly during this process, reaching up to 29% of total phenolic compounds in brews from dark roasted coffees. Regardless of the AA assay used and considering all roasting degrees, the overall contribution of CGA to the AA of the whole brews was higher than that of melanoidin-bound phenolic compounds. It was estimated that the latter compounds contributed to 25-47% of the AA, depending on the assay used.