Resumo:
Coffee, one of the most produced and consumed beverage in the world, has a range of variability in its quality. The aim of this work was to evaluate the consumer capacity to perceive the coffee quality through their fragrance and to verify the influence of previous information about quality on this perception using hedonic scale and Check All That Apply (CATA) sensory tests. The sensory tests were performed in two stages, one without and the other with quality related information of Mogiana coffee samples (Rio, Hard and Soft), and a traditional coffee sample. CATA attributes frequency of occurrence shows that samples discrimination could be done with specific attributes. For Soft coffee the attributes with more occurrence were sweet, caramel, brown sugar, and smooth. The Hard coffee sample was described by the attributes peanut, buttery, and chocolate. While for Rio coffee, the descriptive attributes most often mentioned were strong and burnt. The traditional sample stood out among consumers for its characteristics of old, medicine, sour, burnt, unpleasant and spicy. Therefore, the use of coffee powder fragrance can be alternative to differentiate the quality of the product and its function can be enhanced by passing on information on quality attributes to consumers.
