Abstract:
Coffee Arabica is cultivated in different areas of Amhara region, including in South Wollo,
North Wollo and North Shewa zones. However, these coffees have not been well
characterized for their chemical composition. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine
the metal contents of green coffee beans from three zones of South Wollo, North Wollo, and
North Shewa zones of Amhara region. Six samples of green coffee beans were studied for
variations in their metal compositions. The metals from the powdered green coffee beans
were extracted using kejeldahel digestion method and metals in the digested samples were
determined using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Data
were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The study showed that all the seven metal types were
detected. Accordingly, the mean concentration of metals in mg/kg for K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cr
and Mn is ranges from 5962, 786, 1544, 62, 18.9, 2.2 and 5.7 in South Wollo ,2422, 586,
1355, 60.5,25.6,1.86 and 4.5in North Wollo and 3817,826,1172,40.8,35,1.95 and 5.1 in
North Shewa respectively. The finding revealed that concentration in mg/kg for K, Mg, Fe,
Cr, and Mn in South Wollo zone was higher than that of the concentration in North Wollo
and North Shewa. On the other hand, the concentrations of Ca and Zn in South Wollo lower
than the concentration of Ca and Zn in North Wollo and North Shewa. The Pearson
correlation coefficients also indicated strong to medium and positive or negative correlation
among the metals in the green coffee beans. The analysis of variances at 95% confidence
level showed that there were significant differences in the mean concentrations of all the
metals. The studied metals provided adequate information for use as descriptors of the
geographical origin of coffee beans from eastern Amhara region. This can benefit the coffee
market by providing consumers with products of coffee in the expected geographical origin.
It also benefits to find marker element which can characterize a particular coffee for
branding.