A sample of feces
Kopi luwak is quite popular, with established markets in several South and East Asian countries. Its popularity has also risen in Europe and the US, with India recently becoming an emerging new market. Since no comparable studies have been done on the chemical properties of kopi luwak from the Indian subcontinent, the authors of this latest study decided to fill this scientific gap. They focused on civet coffee produced in Kodagu, which produces nearly 36 percent of India's total coffee production.
Kopi luwak, coffee berries from the feces of a palm civet.
Roasted Palawan kopi luwak.
The authors collected 68 fresh samples of civets from five different locations in Kodagu during the peak fruit harvest in January this year. Collectors wore gloves to prevent contamination of the samples. For comparative analyses, they also harvested several ripened bunches Robust coffee berries. They washed the feces to remove the feces and also removed any palm seeds or other elements to make sure Robust beans were left over.
The authors removed the pulp from the manually harvested berries after a natural fermentation process and then left the beans to dry in the sun for seven days. They then removed the skins from both the scat-derived and hand-harvested berries and dried the beans in an oven for two hours. None of the bean samples were roasted, as roasting could significantly change the acidity and chemical composition of the samples. For the chemical analysis, 10 different samples (five from each berry collection location) were ground into powder and subjected to various tests.
The civet beans had higher fat content, especially the compounds known to affect aroma and taste, such as caprylic acid and methyl esters – which contributed to kopi luwak's distinctive smell and taste – but lower levels of caffeine, protein and acidity, which would reduce bitterness. The lower acidity is likely due to the fact that the coffee berries are naturally fermented in the digestive tracts of the civets. There is still more to learn about the role the gut microbiome plays in this. There were also several volatile organic compounds, common in standard coffee, that were extremely low or completely absent in the civet samples.
In short, the comparative analysis “further supports the idea that civet coffee is chemically different from conventionally produced coffee of similar varieties, primarily due to fermentation,” the authors concluded. They recommend further research using roasted samples, along with studying other coffee varieties, samples from a more diverse selection of farms and the influence of certain ecological conditions, such as canopy cover and the presence of wild trees.
Scientific Reports, 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-21545-x (About DOIs).
