Crappy coffee, round 3 stinky chemistry
This is the last post, attempting to find interesting chemistry for Siromi Samarasinghe’s birthday. Although this one isn’t about smell or being stinky, it is about civet feces.
You’ve probably heard about the really expensive coffee that’s made from an animal’s dung. It’s called Kopi Luwak. Kopi for the Indonesian word for coffee and Luwak for the Asian palm civet, Paradoxurus hermaphroditus. The luwak eats the coffee berries and digests them, imparting a unique flavor to the coffee beans. The beans are retrieved and cleaned from the luwak feces.
Jumhawan et al used gas chromatography with mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) to identify metabolites that can be used to identify genuine Kopi Luwak. From the news blurb: Kopi Luwak sports higher concentrations of malic acid and citric acid, as well as a higher ratio of inositol to pyroglutamic acid.
Selection of Discriminant Markers for Authentication of Asian Palm Civet Coffee (Kopi Luwak): A Metabolomics Approach
Jumhawan et al
J. Agric. Food Chem., 2013, 61 (33), pp 7994–8001
I talked about liquid chromatography here:
Osage orange or hedge apple and pharmacognosy
GC uses a long coiled tube rather than the large columns, packed with a solid phase, used in liquid chromatography. The mobile phase is gas, hence the name, and the stationary phase is a thin layer of liquid or an insert sold support.
In searching for an alternate picture for this post I found that the palm civet is being exploited due to the high price for Kopi Luwak. Many civets are being caged and feed only coffee berries.
World’s most expensive coffee tainted by ‘horrific’ civet abuse
I hope that Siromi Samarasinghe has a wonderful birthday in spite of my failed attempts to find a sweet chemistry story.
#ScienceEveryday
Edit
It turned into a stinky chemistry series.
Making a big stink
Causing more of a stink: TLC not TCA
Petrichor: Smell of the Earth
http://goo.gl/zD6DmU via Rajini Rao
November 29, 2013
Chad Haney these posts are gold. I love it! Definitely not a failed attempt, I think you really made Siromi Samarasinghe’s day with these! 🙂
November 29, 2013
Well done Rich Pollett
November 29, 2013
I’m glad Buddhini Samarasinghe. It sure beats dealing with the conspiracy theorists. I have another one on the Sirolini retraction post.
November 29, 2013
I almost wrote about it, then remembered that I’d be away this evening so wouldn’t have time to babysit it. I don’t like how the trolls are making me cautious about what I write.
November 29, 2013
It happens to me too. If I can’t be around, I fear it will go downhill before I can get to it.
November 29, 2013
I love your posts Chad Haney. The Luwak feces seem to be full of flavour, so no stink this time! Seriously, I enjoyed reading your posts, some very interesting facts. Not failed attempts at all. Thank you so much for remembering me on my birthday!
November 29, 2013
You are welcome Siromi Samarasinghe
November 29, 2013
Chad Haney I was in Bali a few years ago and felt compelled to buy the Kopi Luwak coffee. I even photographed the sign that was near the plantation that explained how the flavor was better. But I reallly couldn’t tell the difference in flavor. Just my lazy taste buds I guess.
November 29, 2013
Christian Fox on the one hand I hope it wasn’t fake Kopi Luwak because I wouldn’t want to see you get cheated. On the other hand, due to exploitation of the luwak, I kind of hope it was fake.
November 29, 2013
Google+ is behaving badly, Chad Haney . Your wine post simply won’t come up..I wanted to refer to it in response to your comment on my post. This is probably too much cross referencing for a Friday night in Googleland.
November 29, 2013
See if this works Rajini Rao
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+ChadHaney/posts/9e82Mt8gZwv
November 29, 2013
Yes, thanks!
Recently, I also get this glitch of an empty profile page on my account, so I guess missing a post or two pales in comparison.
November 29, 2013
Lately other peoples posts have disappeared on me. It’s as if Google thinks that if I don’t comment or plus a post, I don’t want to see it ever again.
November 29, 2013
That’s Facebook’s edge rank algorithm right there. It sucks. I refresh my stream and see the same posts all over again. Oddly, I rarely ever get your posts in my general stream even though I comment/plus.
November 29, 2013
Happiest of birthdays to you today, Siromi Samarasinghe! 🙂
November 30, 2013
I have always been disgusted by this, but I’d try a cup.
November 30, 2013
Context is an important thing to have: ✦THE MOST CRUEL COFFEE PRODUCTION IN THE WORLD✦
December 1, 2013
Many #craftbeer makers stopped using this product after the exploitive production practice was made popular. Pure cruelty.
December 1, 2013
Gabriel Perren did you read the post? There’s a comment and link about the civet’s exploitation.
December 1, 2013
Chad Haney yeah, I commented about missing that in a re-post of this one. I missed that last part in your original post, sorry. Cheers.
December 1, 2013
No worries Gabriel Perren. It’s often hard to tell one’s intentions and tone via written communication.