A sample of feces
Kopi luwak is very popular and has well-established markets in several South and East Asian countries. Its popularity has also increased in Europe and the United States, and India has recently become a new emerging market. Since there have been no similar studies 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 almost 36 percent of India’s total coffee production.
Kopi luwak, coffee berries from the droppings of a palm civet.
Roasted Palawan luwak coffee.
The authors collected 68 samples of fresh civet feces from five different sites in Kodagu during the peak fruit harvest in January this year. Collectors wore gloves to avoid sample contamination. For comparative analysis, they also harvested several bunches of ripe grapes. Robusta coffee berries. They washed the feces samples to remove the feces and also removed any palm seeds or other items to ensure only Robusta the beans remained.
For hand-harvested berries, the authors removed the pulp after a natural fermentation process, then dried the beans in the sun for seven days. They then removed the hulls from the dung-derived, hand-harvested berries and dried the beans in the 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 chemical analysis, 10 separate samples (five from each site where the berries were harvested) were ground into powder and subjected to various tests.
Civet beans had higher levels of fat, particularly compounds known to influence aroma and flavor, such as caprylic acid and methyl esters, contributing to the distinctive aroma and flavor of kopi luwak, but lower levels of caffeine, protein and acidity, which would reduce bitterness. The lower acidity is likely because coffee berries are naturally fermented in the civet’s digestive tract, and there is still much to learn about the role the gut microbiome plays in all of this. There were also several volatile organic compounds, common to standard coffee, that were extremely low, if not 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 types, primarily due to fermentation,” the authors conclude. They recommend further research using roasted samples, as well as studying other coffee varieties, samples from a more diverse selection of farms and the influence of certain ecological conditions, such as forest cover and the presence of wild trees.
Scientific Reports, 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-21545-x (About DOIs).
