The reason why the flavor of Arabica coffee beans is better than that of Robusta.

A few days before Napoleon died on St. Helena Island in 1821, his attendant Marshal Bertrand wrote about Napoleon begging: "he asked for twenty times in the morning and asked me if I could give him some more coffee." "No, my lord, the doctor ordered you to drink only one spoonful of coffee. It's not time yet. You have a bad stomach. Drinking early will only make you vomit early. "he has vomited nine times this morning. In the past, he was all-powerful and led an army, and he was a hero everyone feared, but now he has been reduced to begging for coffee and obedient like a child. Begging again and again, being rejected again and again, but not angry ​​. The situation and the scene are sour. "

In addition to caffeine, the charming aroma of coffee is also the main reason why Napoleon, me and many coffee fans miss coffee all the time. But why on earth does the coffee smell so good? The most important thing, of course, is that coffee beans themselves store a variety of raw materials, such as carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, organic acids and so on. After heating and baking, it will start a series of complex reactions, creating an attractive aroma.

Two of the most important reactions are caramelization (caramelization, oxidation and browning of sugars) and Mena (Maillard reaction, the reaction of amino acids with sugars). Both reactions require the participation of sugars, and the rich sucrose in raw beans provides the materials needed for these two reactions. Previous studies also found that there was a positive correlation between sucrose content and coffee bean flavor. From the table below, it can be seen that the content of sucrose (Sucrose) in Arabica is twice as much as that in Robusta, which also explains why the flavor of Arabica coffee beans is better than that of Robsta.