A Study of the Physical Characteristics and Defects of Green Coffee Beans That Influence the Sensory Notes Using Machine Learning Models

Abstract

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the relation between physical characteristics and defects of green coffee beans and the sensory profile that influence the sensory notes of fragrance, aroma, flavor, and aftertaste of coffee. Machine learning models were used to identify the variables of importance and identify the ways in which these variables affect the sensory note of coffee, to determine which algorithm and its hyperparameters have greater precision in determining the sensory values of coffee such as floral, fruity, herbal, nutty, caramel, chocolate, spicy, resinous, pyrolytic, earthy, fermented, and phenolic. The result indicates the relationship and importance that exist between the physical variables, defects, and size of the green coffee bean, with respect to their respective sensory notes. The data of the proposed system demonstrate that by combining the scores of several experts, a precision can be achieved analogously to that obtained by cupping experts; therefore, the possibility of errors induced by human concerns such as fatigue or subjectivity is reduced.