Abstract The objective of this study was to characterize the reaction kinetics of ozone in water in a microbubble system and to determine the potential of ozonated water in the inactivation of mesophilic bacteria and fungi and preservation of coffee sensory quality ( Coffea arabica L.). For coffee treatment, 10 kg samples were immersed in water with microbubbles without ozone and microbubbles with ozone for periods of 40, 60, and 90 min for pulped natural coffee and immersion periods of 60, 120, and 180 min for natural coffee. The treatment for pulped natural coffee with immersion in microbubbles with ozone for 40 min was responsible for reducing contamination by filamentous fungi and yeasts by 1.13 log CFU g −1 . In natural coffee, the treatment with immersion in microbubbles with ozone for 60 min led to a reduction of 2.98 log CFU g −1 in contamination by filamentous fungi and yeasts. The results of the sensory analysis for coffee did not show statistically significant differences ( P < 0.05), with an average score of 80.29. The immersion water of pulped natural coffee in microbubbles with ozone for 90 min showed values of 46.63 ± 1.62 and 93.43 ± 3.91 mg L −1 for BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) and COD (chemical oxygen demand), respectively, complying with the current environmental legislation. It is concluded that the application of ozonated water as a pretreatment in coffee drying is a technology that allows microbiological decontamination and maintains the quality of specialty coffees.
Lacerda et al. (Mon,) studied this question.