Arabinogalactan as a potential furfural precursor in roasted coffee

A fraction C 1 which was very rich in polysaccharides and did not contain sucrose was isolated from high molecular weight water-soluble material obtained from green coffee. After roasting, furfural was identified in fraction C 1 by means of headspace-GC/MS analysis. Roasting of the fraction C 1 clearly affected the arabino-galactan promoting a high loss of arabinose residues. We suggest that furfural found in fraction C 1 originates mainly from arabinogalactan, which, together with sucrose appears to be the major furfural precursor in roasted coffee