Interactions between volatile and nonvolatile coffee components. 2. Mechanistic study focused on volatile thiols

This study is the second of two publications that investigate the interactions between volatile and nonvolatile components in coffee brew. The purpose here was to shed some light into the chemical mechanisms responsible for the decrease of volatile thiols when in contact with coffee nonvolatiles. A mixture of volatile thiols covering a large range of physicochemical properties was monitored over time in the presence of a coffee brew model. The binding potential was estimated by SPME-GC-MS. Additives inhibiting specific reaction pathways were preincubated with the coffee brew 1 h prior to addition of the volatile compounds. Degradation kinetics of the volatile thiols were characterized by their rate constants k(obs). The effect of individual additives was shown by calculating k(rel), the relative rate constant as compared to the reference without additive. The conclusion was that thiols, mainly responsible for the "roasty" and "burnt" notes, disappear via two main chemical mechanisms. The results suggest that nucleophilic addition is the major pathway for thiol degradation. Addition occurs on oxidized species generated in the matrix in the presence of air. This mechanism prevails for aliphatic thiols (e.g., ethanethiol, methanethiol). Benzylic thiols (such as 2-furfurylthiol) can react in parallel via another pathway that is slowed in the absence of oxygen and in the presence of a radical scavenger. This points to a radical mechanism, but further work is needed to support this hypothesis. A direct correlation between thiol hydrophobicity and the magnitude of the interactions was shown as well. Therefore, weak physical interactions or hydrophobic assistance accelerating chemical reactions cannot be excluded at this point of the study.