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Fermentation Atlas

Cocoa, coffee and spice from Coffee-growing regions worldwide, mainly for arabica

Coffee wet-process (washed) fermentation

Ripe coffee cherries are pulped to free the beans, which are still coated in a slimy, sugary mucilage. The beans sit in tanks, usually under water, for 12–36 h while the fruit's own enzymes, yeasts and lactic bacteria break the mucilage down. They are then washed clean and dried in thin layers to below 12.5% moisture. Made in 7 steps over 6.5 days – 7.5 days. The longest step, dry the parchment in thin layers, takes up to 5 days (Codex Alimentarius 2009). Hanseniaspora uvarum and Pichia kudriavzevii and Pichia kluyveri and Pichia fermentans do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepup to 5 daysSet[codex-coffee]Dry the parchment in thin layers
Temperature11–30 °CReported[codex-coffee][cortes2024]Ferment in tanks
AciditypH 4–4.5Measured[debruyn2017]Ferment in tanks
Fully documentedCocoa, coffee and spice6.5 days – 7.5 daysMore cocoa, coffee and spice

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThere is no recipe; the batch is the day's harvest of ripe cherries. The 100 kg figure is the lot one study processed.
100 kgRipe coffee cherries · Lot size in one Ecuadorian study; green and dried cherries are sorted out first[debruyn2017][codex-coffee]
Clean water · For sorting, pulping, fermenting and washing; dirty water favours ochratoxin A[codex-coffee]
No starter · Microbes come in on the fruit; defined yeast starters are used only in trials[elhalis2020a][cortes2024]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 6.5 days – 7.5 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: ripe red coffee cherries

Step 1 of 7
Pick ripe cherries and sort them in water
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts
Lactic acid bacteria
Moulds
Hanseniaspora uvarum
Pichia kudriavzevii

Wet processing needs ripe cherries only; unripe and dried fruit are removed in a water separator. Output: sorted ripe cherries.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
red ripe cherries

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

In washed coffee the fruit is removed first and the mucilage is fermented off in a tank. The natural process dries the whole cherry instead, and the semi-washed (honey) process dries the bean with its mucilage on. A machine can scrub the mucilage off with no ferment, but in one cup test fermented beans scored higher for flavour, aroma and acidity.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Semi-washed or honey (pulped natural)Pulped beans are dried with their mucilage still on, then hulled.
  • Natural (dry process)The whole cherry is dried, in the sun or by machine, then the dry husk is removed.
  • Mechanical demucilageA machine rubs the mucilage off by friction instead of fermenting it.
  • Extended fermentationFermenting 36 h instead of 16 h lowered the pH to 4.0 and brought in more lactobacilli in one study.

Safety

Ochratoxin A comes from Aspergillus moulds that grow while coffee is half-dry. Codex advice is to process only ripe cherries with clean water, keep fermentation short (12–36 h), dry the parchment in layers 3–5 cm deep, turned often and covered at night, keep its time in the risky middle-moisture range to 5 days or less, and bring it below 12.5% moisture without re-wetting. Store below 60% relative humidity.

Hazards the sources name: Ochratoxin A-producing moulds (Aspergillus ochraceus group, A. niger group and A. carbonarius).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [codex-coffee] Codex Alimentarius 2009, Code of practice for the prevention and reduction of ochratoxin A contamination in coffee, CAC/RCP 69-2009spec
  2. [debruyn2017] De Bruyn F. et al. 2017, Exploring the impacts of postharvest processing on the microbiota and metabolite profiles during green coffee bean production, Applied and Environmental Microbiology 83:e02398-16, doi:10.1128/AEM.02398-16paper
  3. [elhalis2020a] Elhalis H., Cox J., Zhao J. 2020, Ecological diversity, evolution and metabolism of microbial communities in the wet fermentation of Australian coffee beans, International Journal of Food Microbiology 321:108544, doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2020.108544paper
  4. [elhalis2020b] Elhalis H., Cox J., Frank D., Zhao J. 2020, The crucial role of yeasts in the wet fermentation of coffee beans and quality, International Journal of Food Microbiology 333:108796, doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2020.108796paper
  5. [elhalis2023] Elhalis H., Cox J., Zhao J. 2023, Yeasts are essential for mucilage degradation of coffee beans during wet fermentation, Yeast 40:425–436, doi:10.1002/yea.3888paper
  6. [elhalis2021] Elhalis H., Cox J., Frank D., Zhao J. 2021, The role of wet fermentation in enhancing coffee flavor, aroma and sensory quality, European Food Research and Technology 247:485–498, doi:10.1007/s00217-020-03641-6paper
  7. [avallone2001] Avallone S., Guyot B., Brillouet J.M., Olguin E., Guiraud J.P. 2001, Microbiological and biochemical study of coffee fermentation, Current Microbiology 42:252–256, doi:10.1007/s002840110213paper
  8. [cortes2024] Cortés V.H. et al. 2024, Challenges in coffee fermentation technologies, bibliometric analysis and critical review, Journal of Food Science and Technology 61:2223–2234, doi:10.1007/s13197-024-06054-5paper