An Update on Sustainable Valorization of Coffee By-Products as Novel Foods within the European Union

Abstract

The coffee plant Coffea spp. offers much more than the well-known drink made from the roasted coffee bean. During its cultivation and production, a wide variety of by-products are accrued, most of which are currently unused, thermally recycled, or used as animal feed. The modern, ecologically oriented society attaches great importance to waste reduction, so it makes sense to not dispose of the by-products of coffee production but to bring them into the value chain. The aim of this presentation is to provide an updated overview of novel coffee products in the food sector and their current legal classification in the European Union (EU). Coffee flowers, leaves, cascara, coffee cherry spirit, silver skin, and coffee wood are among the materials considered in this article. Some of these products may have, at least, an indirect history of consumption in Europe (silver skin), while others have already been used as traditional foods in non-EU-member countries (coffee leaves, flowers, cascara, and coffee cherry spirit). Of these, coffee leaf tea and cascara have already been approved by the European Commission. Following a consultation with EU member states, spent coffee grounds were determined as being not novel. For the other products, toxicity and/or safety data need to be gathered to further advance novel food applications.

Keywords

• cascara
• coffee by-products
• coffee flower
• coffee leaves
• coffee pulp
• coffee silver skin