Bhubaneswar: Researchers from Central University of Odisha (CUO), Koraput, have identified some nutrition-rich coffee varieties cultivated in Koraput Valley in the Eastern Ghats.
“These varieties have less caffeine than others and are better for human health. The nutrition-rich coffee will address nutritional security and has great potential for high-value functional foods in the food industry,” said researcher Debabrata Panda, assistant professor at the biodiversity and conservation of natural resources department, CUO.
The research team led by Panda studied the nutritional and nutraceutical profiling of 13 local coffee varieties cultivated by tribals from Koraput. Two of these coffee varieties, Chandragiri and Cauvery, showed better nutritional compositions.
Panda said these two varieties have higher content of protein, fibre, food energy, flavonoids, vitamin C, and antioxidants, and are nutritionally superior compared to other Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica varieties. Findings of their research were published in an international Springer Nature Journal, “Vegetos”, on Oct 9. Other researchers involved were Barsarani Singh and Monali Nanda.
Koraput Valley is one of the major coffee-producing areas of the state. It grows Arabica coffee over 2,894 hectares. The coffee grown in Koraput has secured the geographical indication (GI) tag and has high value in the market because of the superior flavour demonstrated by its purity, geographical origin, and consumer demand, said the researcher.
“It is high time that we take necessary steps to promote these nutrition-rich, health-beneficial coffee varieties for mass consumption. A strategy to promote the commercial production of these coffee varieties is required to boost the local economy and create a market to reach more consumers,” said Panda.
He said these nutrition-rich coffee varieties can be used for development of new varieties to address the nutritional security of tribal people and can be used in the food industry for making high-value functional foods, he added.
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